The tales of the sixty mandarins

GIFT OF
MICHAEL REESE

THE TALES

OF

THE SIXTY MANDARINS.

; THE PRINCESS TOOK UP THE PARCHMENT, AND . . . LOOKED AT HIS FACE" (/. 176).

THE TALES

OF THE

SIXTY MANDARINS.

BY

P. V. iRAMASWAMI RAJU.

WITH AN

INTRODUCTION BY PROFESSOR HENRY MORLEY.

ILL US TRA TED^GORDON BRO WNE.

SECOND EDITION.

CASSELL & COMPANY, LIMITED

LONDON, PARIS, NEW YORK & MELBOURNE.

[ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.]

CONTENTS.

PA^K

THE BLACK CHINAMAN AND His JUNK i

THE GIANT TABALAN AND THE BOY TUCK 6

THE MISER MYWUNG AND THE BAG OF BLUE VELVET . .10

THE USURER OF ECBATANA 14

THE FAIRY PERIWINKLE OF TONQUIN . . . . .18

THE SELF-SUFFICIENT SAINT 22

THE RIGHTEOUS REGICIDE 26

THE STORY OF LITTLE TULLIMA AND THE SUNBEAM ... 30
THE BOY BAHADUR AND THE MAGIC CLUB . . . . -35

^THE BASKET IN THE STREAM 39

THE QUEER GLADIATOR 43

THE CITY THAT HAD SEVEN GATES TO IT 50

THE GIANT JIMLAC AND THE PHILOSOPHER NEE WANG . . 55
THE BOA-CONSTRICTOR AND His WIFE . . . . . .59

viii CONTENTS.

FACE

How THE MILKMAID MARALANA BOILED THE DRAGON TO DEATH 63

THE HISTORY OF SULTAN DINWAR MA.NDEEL ... 67

THE VIRGIN FROM VELAYET 72

THE STORY OF THE AERIAL MUSICIAN 76

THE SULTAN AND THE GENIUS OF ADVERSITY .... 80

THE FAMOUS BOOK ON ALCHYMY 84

THE OCEAN OF MILK 88

THE BABIES OF BAHLISTAN 91

THE STORY OF THE SURLY FARMER AND THE BOY PANDARAM . 97

THE TURBULENT CITIZENS OF SHANGHAE . . • • . 100

THE TRUANT IN A TRIPLE GUISE 103

THE BOY PADANG MID THE HUNDRED GIANTS . . . . 109

i FISHING IN THE STREETS * .114

KAPLOTH GUNI OF CANTON 119

THE ELIXIR OF LIFE 123

THE MAGIC RUBY ON THE HEAD OF A SERPENT . . .128

THE STORY OF THE YELLOW BANNER 132

THE WONDERFUL PAIR OF SPECTACLES 136

THE MISER AND THE MOUNTAIN OF GOLD ..... 140

THE PRINCESS DIRNAR AND THE GIANT DEATH-SPRINKLE . 145

CONTENTS. ix

f AGE

THE STORY OF THE GIANT LEFT-WHISKER 149

THE HIVE OF HAPPY BEES 153

THE MISER IN THE MOSQUE 157

THE CAT GUNDUPLE AND THE GOLDEN MOUSE .... 160

\, LITTLE UZBEC "I KNOW" 164

THE DREAM OF THE SAVAGE KING 168

THE STORY OF TALIB THE TEN-EYED YOUTH . . . .174

THE STORY OF SULTAN BEY BEY AND THE GIANT HUM HAW . 177

THE STORY OF THE GOLDEN SLIPPER FROM THE INVISIBLE CASTLE 181

THE STORY OF THE ISLAND OF ALLFRIARS 186

THE STORY OF THE CREEPER OF LIGHTNING .... 194

^ THE REVENGE OF THE ROYAL MENDICANT 198

THE STORY OF PRINCE RAGOBA AND THE FAIR PUCHANDY . 203

THE STORY OF VAMA-VIKRAMA ; -OR, THE CASCADE OF PEARLS 208

THE STORY OF THE CALIPH HAROUN ALRASCHID AND His FOOL

SHUM SHEER 214

THE STORY OF THE BOY BIG TURBAN 219

THE FAIR CAVALIERS . . .224

THE LAME SULTAN 228

PRINCE JUBAL, THE MAN OF BREVITY 232

THE BRAYING MANDARIN ,.,.«... 239

x CONTENTS*

PAOH

THE IDLE MAN AND THE ELF 248

THE Two PHILOSOPHERS . . 255

THE BAMBOO FIEND 260

THE FIVE PRINCES THAT LOVED A FAIRY 263

THE STORY OF THE SULTAN OF TARTARY, WHO HAD THE

PHILOSOPHER'S STONE IN His TURBAN .... 269

THE BANQUET OF THE FIENDS , 276

INTRODUCTION.

THIS is a real book of new Fairy Tales. Gatherings of legends
of the people, partly Indian, partly Chinese, have been
touched by the genius of a writer, himself from the East,
who brings his own wit and fancy to the telling of his tales,
and is as ready to invent as to hand down tradition. A
Fairy Tale should be all action, with something done in
every sentence, or something said that carries on the story
in a short and lively way. Whatever truth there may be
living in its fiction must live in the tale itself, as closely
joined to it as soul to body. Long moralising in a Fairy
Tale is as the sound of Bottom snoring in Titania's lap.

But here is Titania herself in whimsical mood, at play
in the East. It is an old playground of hers — she must have
been visiting her comrades there, when she made Oberon
jealous with "a lovely boy stolen from an Indian king."
And Oberon, when he came to tease her for the boy, had
not he also, as far as Titania knew, " come from the farthest
steep of India ? "

Mr. P. V. Ramaswami Rajiv's best Introduction to
readers in England is this book of his, to which he has
written his own Preface. He is a graduate of the Madras
University ; he is a Member of the Asiatic Society ; and he
had just been called to the bar at the Inner Temple when
he left England for India, and left the manuscript of these
tales in my hands.

We had come into friendly relations at University
College, London, where he was Lecturer on Tamil and

xii INTRODUCTION.

Telugu in the Indian School for the training of Selected
Candidates for the Indian Civil Service. A slight official
charge connects me with that Indian School by a few
duties that bring the pleasure of acquaintance with its
students and its teachers. In this way I had become
known to Mr. Raju, when he first asked me to read his
tales. I said I would, and put them away in a drawer.

After a year I was asked gently for an opinion about
them, and again from time to time, at intervals of about a
month ; and still so gently, without any of the impatient
self-assertion common to those who have asked one to read
what is worthless, that I thought they would prove good.
Then I began to read with hope, and went on with surprised
enjoyment. Good Fairy Tales, in these hard-headed times,
are rare as grass in the desert.

May the readers of these find as much pleasure in them
as I have had in brushing at them with a goose-feather as
they passed through the printing-office, light task, as of one
"sent before, to sweep the dust behind the door." But
now the door is open, and there is good cheer within.

H. M.

University College^ London.

AUTHOR'S PREFACE.

IN a country like India, or China, where people from all
parts of Asia, if not of the world, meet for commercial
purposes, there is a free interchange, not only of com-
modities, but also of ideas.

In the course of such friendly communion, not seldom
the speakers cite proverbs, tales, and traditions, by way of
argument or illustration, in the way best suited to the
special subject of discourse. Listening to such talk, not
to speak of higher paths of research, is one of the chief
sources from which stories like these might be drawn.

A considerable number of them will be found to be of
Chinese origin. Some have for their basis traditions said to
be prevalent among the people of the Indo-Chinese Penin-
sula and the Eastern Archipelago. Some are connected
with a number of Tartar and other Central Asian legends
that had worked their way into the southern parts of the
Continent. Some belong to Persia, Asiatic Turkey, and
Arabia. The remaining few may be described as purely
Hindu in their character.

The political relations between the East and the West
have given rise to some amusing tales. The Virgin from
Velayet is a specimen of them. The nucleus of this story
was found among a section of the Indian peasantry, and
must have arisen from that good-humoured representation
of Western ideas and institutions, which very often recom-
mends itself to their rustic and unsophisticated hearts.

xiv AUTHOR'S PREFACE.

The Fair Cavaliers was derived from a Persian source ;
but there is a tale in Indian history very similar to it.
The heroine in the Indian story was the daughter of the
King of Chittoor, in Rajasthan, and the tyrant outwitted
was the rapacious Alla-ud-deen, the Patan King of Delhi.
This instance of the same tale being found in two different
countries, howsoever it might be explained, recalls to mind
the story of the Arabian merchant who knew the language
of the lower animals, in the fable of The Ass, the Ox,
and the Labourer, and the story of King Kikaya and his
obstinate queen, in Ramayana, in both of which we have
the same narrative pointing to the same moral, though in
different words and under different circumstances.

It may be added that the difficulty of tracing the origin,
or recognising the position, of these proverbs, tales, and
traditions, or their parallels, in " the lore of the learned of
the land " will, in a great many cases, be found to be very
great, if not almost insurmountable; so much so, that a
person versed in the language and literature of the country
from which they may be said to have come, would often
be at a loss to say anything definitely about their origin ;
while the fact remains that one who by a mere accident
heard "the stray fragments of folk-lore" recited to him,
had the advantage of noting and collecting them.

The Story of the Caliph Haroun Alraschid and his Fool,
in this collection, may be adduced in evidence of this.
The tale was once told, though in a very crude form, by
an Arab trader, in Ceylon. The hero of the story is the
famous Caliph Haroun Al Raschid and the heroine — his
consort — the amiable Sultana Zobeide. Those who are
familiar with the adventures of the Caliph, as narrated in
the Arabian Nights Entertainments, will find there nothing
analogous to it.

Some Arabic scholars of the East, who were consulted as

AUTHOR'S PREFACE. xv

to its existence in the literature of the Arabs, expressed their
surprise at their inability to find there any traces of it. One
of them, whose words I have already quoted in this Preface,
Wazeer Abdul AH of Three Maha Mondon Pur, made this
quaint, yet judicious remark, with which I ask the per-
mission of the reader to conclude these observations —

" It must have been some stray fragment of the folk-lore
of the Arabs, that had nothing to do with the lore of the
learned of the land. So far as such popular tales go, it
matters not whether they are anchored firmly like great
ships in the havens of the writings of the learned, or floating
like stray waifs on the seas of the traditions of the people,
provided they fulfil the triple conditions of being wholesome,
entertaining, and instructive."

To what extent these tales fulfil the conditions laid down
by the Wazeer, or whether they fulfil them at all, I leave it
to the gentle reader to decide.

P. V. R. R.

THE

TALES OF THE SIXTY MANDARINS.

was a Prince of China who had a great many
learned Mandarins for his friends. They visited him
every day, and spent some time in pleasant and edifying
discourse One day, in the course of conversation, the
Prince had occasion to observe, "Alas! opium is the
greatest curse of our country."

One of the Mandarins observed, " Illustrious Prince, like
the fabulous Black Chinaman, who was long the terror of
the coast of Corea, the Chinese may escape any and every
danger but that proceeding from the odious drug."

The curiosity of the Prince being roused, he said,
" Good Mandarin, what is the story that you refer to ? "

The Mandarin proceeded to relate the story as follows : —

!Uack ffiljinantan attb Ijts Junfe.

On the coast of Corea, there was a Chinaman, who
lived in a junk. He was black ; his junk was black ;
and the sails of his junk were equally black. He seldom
came on land ; but when he did come, he generally carried
of, as the good people of Corea said, a boy for his breakfast,
because he was very fond of eating boys. But he observed
one good rule — that he never touched a boy who was not

a

2 THE TALES OF THE SIXTY MANDARINS.

Quarrelsome. So, whenever a boy was missed on the coast,
they would say, " The boy quarrelled with his companions,
and the Black Chinaman has carried him off."

Again, he was supposed to have acquired perfect control
over the water of the sea, and over the winds. So, when
the water rose in huge waves, they would say, " Yes ; the
Black Chinaman is lashing them." If the winds raged
furiously, they would say, " Yes ; the Black Chinaman is
setting them on." If the lightning flashed, they would say,
" Yes ; the Black Chinaman is lighting his pipe." He was
so quick in sailing, that people said they saw his junk in the
horizon, and heard the clinking of his anchor chain by the
coast at one and the same time. Mothers often fancied they
saw his black junk passing on the horizon, and, trembling
from head to foot, held their children closely to their
bosoms.

The people along the coast of Corea, where the Black
Chinaman committed his depredations, long endeavoured to
destroy him ; but he was so vigilant, that all their efforts
proved useless.

There was a little boy named Honoi, who said to him-
self, " Well, they say the Black Chinaman, who eats
quarrelsome boys, lives in a junk by himself. I dare say he
has nets, and daily fishes in the sea. Now, what does he do
with the fish ? Certainly, he eats all the fish. Now, how
does he slake his thirst after that ? Certainly, with a great
barrel of ale, which they say he drinks at a gulp. Then
again, they say the hollow mast of his junk has a bowl on
the top, and serves him as a pipe, which he smokes in calm
weather, when he furls the sails, and lets the junk drift on
the sea. So, what with the boys and the fish, what with the
ale and the pipe, he must be leading a very happy life,
indeed ! "

One evening therefore, when the junk of the Blacl>

"ON THE COA«T OF CoREA, THERE WAS A CHINAMAN, WHO LIVED N

A JUNK" (/. i)

THE BLACK CHINAMAX AND HIS JUNK. 5

Chinaman was lying at anchor near the coast, Honoi said,
" Good Captain of the Black Junk, will you take me on
board ? I will cook the fish you eat, and light the pipe you
smoke. When you wish to drink, I will hand you the
barrel ; and when you do want boys, I will point out such
of them as quarrel."

The Black Chinaman was glad to hear Honoi say so.
He took him at once on board, observing, " Honoi, now
cook the fish." Honoi cooked the fish, and laid it on the
table. Before he could turn round, the Black Chinaman
ate the fish, and said, " Honoi, hand me the barrel." Before
Honoi could turn round after handing the barrel, the Black
Chinaman laid it down, saying, " Honoi, light my pipe."

Honoi, who wanted a moment to breathe, pretended not
to know what he meant by his pipe.

The Black Chinaman grinned, displaying his teeth from
ear to ear, and said, " Honoi, you are an idle boy. You will
never do with me. You must know before you are told. Now
go up to the top of this mast and clean the bowl, while I go
down to bring the tobacco."

Honoi went up and cleaned the bowl, and filled one half
of it with a great quantity of opium, which he had brought
concealed in his clothes.

The Black Chinaman brought a great quantity of tobacco
and gave it to Honoi, who filled the remaining half of the
bowl with a part of it, and returned the remainder to his
master.

" Is the bowl full, Honoi ? " thundered the Black China-
man.

" It is, sir," replied Honoi.

"How did you fill the bowl with one-half the usual
quantity, Honoi ? " said the Black Chinaman.

" It is all in the doing of the thing, sir ; I can do with a
little 'vhat most people cannot do with much."

6 THE TALES OF THE SIXTY MANDARINS.

" You are just the sort of boy I want," said the Black
Chinaman, and putting his right hand on the shoulder of
Honoi, took the huge pipe with the left, reclined his head
on the helm, with his long whiskers dangling in the sea on
both sides, threw his legs on the prow, and smoked till he
grew utterly insensible.

Honoi bound him to the junk tightly with strong ropes,
and steered it to the shore, shouting, " I am Honoi, Captain
of the Black Junk!"

The people assembled in great crowds, and welcomed
Honoi as the deliverer of their boys.

They killed the Black Chinaman, and buried him on
the coast ; but they hung up his long whiskers on a tree,
and whenever boys quarrel, the good people of Corea say
that the whiskers coil and hiss like serpents ready to devour
them.

The Prince, who expressed himself highly amused at the
story, remarked, " The Black Chinaman must have been a
great glutton to have eaten such a quantity of fish, and
drunk so much ale."

The good opinion which the Prince gave of the story,
excited the emulation of another Mandarin ; so, he observed,
" Illustrious Prince, the Black Chinaman was not a greater
glutton than the Giant Tabalan."

The Prince asked what the story was, and the Mandarin
related it as follows : —

(Biattt

On an island, in a distant sea, there lived a giant named
Tabalan, and a little boy named Tuck. These two were the
only inhabitants on it. The giant was a glutton ; the boy

THE GIANT TABALAN AND THE BOY TUCK. 7

ate little or nothing. So the giant liked him very much,
saying, " I like boys that feed on air, and drink ether." He
said so because he liked everybody but himself eating
almost nothing.

There was a volcano in the middle of the island, which
was constantly burning. Tabalan roasted the camels,
elephants, and other animals he ate, on its crater. There
was a great rock with a flat top : this was his table. There
was a nice little valley, in which grew various herbs and
plants, which Tabalan ate with his dinner. The whole of
this valley he called his vegetable basket.

He generally got up at noon, and finished his breakfast
in a few minutes, because he was in a hurry to prepare for
tiffin. He would finish his tiffin in a few minutes, because
he was in a hurry to prepare for dinner. For dinner he had
not much time to spare, because he was in a hurry to pre-
pare for supper.

Tabalan was very fond of being told every now and then,
that he ate very little. Of course this was a duty that
devolved on his servant, Tuck. So when he roasted a whole
herd of elephants, and a number of camels to boot, at the
crater, and put them on his table, the boy Tuck would say,
" Ah, good master, how little you eat ! "

Tabalan would say, with a smile, " Tuck, you are a
shrewd fellow. You see what it really is. But we must all
eat sparingly, my boy, if we wish to get on in the world."
Then he would put into his mouth the trunk of an elephant,
or the hump of a camel, and, smacking his lips, drink his
wine. This was the water of the sea. By his table was a
great pipe, which he put into his mouth and sucked, and
the sea-water flowed down his throat. Tabalan said he
liked the drink specially for the shoals that got in, and fur-
nished him with an excellent mouthful of fish at every
draught.

8 THE TALES OF THE SIXTY MANDARINS.

Tuck would exclaim, " Ah, good master, how little you
drink ! "

Tabalan would say, "Tuck, you are a shrewd fellow.
You see what it really is. We must all drink sparingly if
we wish to get on in the world."

When Tabalan rose from bed at noon, Tuck would say,
" Good Master, how soon you get up ! "

Tabalan would say, " Tuck, you are a shrewd fellow.
<*...-',

" TABALAN GREW VERY FAT."

You see what it really is. We must all sleep sparingly, my
boy, if we wish to get on in the world ! "

What with his eating, what with his sleeping, Tabalan
grew very fat. Neither ox nor horse, neither camel nor
elephant could show anything equal to the fat in his body.
Now Tabalan was very fond of fat things. So, one day,
he looked at himself and his mouth watered. Instantly, he
called out, " Tuck, shrewd fellow, come in ! "

Tuck came in.

Tabalan said, " Now, I have a project in my head,"

THE GIANT TAB ALAN AND THE BOY TUCK. 9

" Good master," said Tuck, " I dare say it is a very
good one of its kind."

" You are quite right, my boy," said the giant ; " now,
tell me if you will be able to roast me at the crater and give
me me for dinner ? "

Tuck said nothing could be more easy, only he wished
to know how he was to give him him for dinner after he
had been roasted.

Tabalan said, " My life is in this cocoanut. When you
have roasted my body, put it down on the table and lay the
cocoanut by, saying, ' Master Tabalan, your dinner is ready,
and I will be up.'"

The boy consented with a wink.

" Why do wink, my boy ? " said Tabalan.

" Ah, good master," said Tuck, tl that you are so shrewd
as to eat yourself."

" Well," said Tabalan, " we must all be shrewd, my boy,
if we wish to get on in the world."

Tabalan went into the cocoanut with his mouth watering
again at the thought of the approaching banquet, and
instantly his body fell on the ground.

Tuck said to himself, " Well, I have been on this island
long enough. It is not every day that Tabalan will pro-
pose roasting himself for dinner," and threw the cocoanut
into the sea. Instantly, it began to float. By its aid, he
reached the mainland where his home was. Then he dug .a
deep pit and buried the cocoanut in it, saying, "Good
Master Tabalan, lie thou there till I ask thee to come up
for dinner again."

The spirit of Tabalan replied, " You are, indeed, a shrewd
boy, Tuck ; you will call me up so soon as you have roasted
me for dinner — will you not ?"

" Certainly I will," said Tuck, and went home.

In course of time a tree grew on the spot, and the

io THE TALES OF THE SIXTY MANDARINS.

children of the country often gathered round the tree, while
one of them asked, " Good Master Tabalan, will you come
up?"

Another would stand behind the tree and reply, " Bid
my boy Tuck come up, and tell me if he has roasted me
on the crater and made my dinner ready, and I will be
up."

The children would then dance round the tree shouting,
" Tuck is no more ! Tabalan is no more ! "

The Prince complimented the Mandarin on the story he
had related, observing, "Instances in which people fall a
prey to some gross passion of their own, in the manner of
the Giant Tabalan, are indeed not rare."

Another Mandarin whose emulation was roused by this
praise bestowed on his companion, replied, " Mighty Prince,
this story reminds me of the Miser Mywung, who fell a prey
to his own cupidity, and the Bag of Blue Velvet."

" Ah, who was the miser, and what had the bag to do
with him ? " said the Prince.

The Mandarin related the story as follows : —

J¥lis*r ^Uning antr tb* $ag of XUu*
Vtlteb

In the city of Cashgar there was a miser of whom the
people said, " There is wealth in his coffers, famine at his
door, and misery in every nook of his house." He had
neither wife, nor children, nor relations, nor friends.
Occasionally, an old woman, who affected to pay the same
reverence to gold as himself, was permitted to enter the
house to sweep it and set the few things in it in the order
which best suited him. He cooked his own meals, and as

THE MISER MYWUNG AND THE 13 AG. 1 1

his wants were very few, he spent next to nothing in
gratifying them.

He seldom stirred out of his house, nor did any people
visit him ; so this old woman was the only medium of
intercourse between himself and the wide world. As some
of the wags in the city observed, she was the only isthmus
that connected the two great continents — the miser and the
world at large.

Mywung had got into the habit of consulting this old
woman on matters relating to magic and medicine, for the
very good reason that her incantations and prescriptions
involved no expenditure.

He had also a passion for stories about wealth. When-
ever he felt inclined to listen to them, the old woman
entertained him with such wonderful tales as the Golden
Elephant with the Magic Tail, the Palace of Jasper that had
Gates of Adamant, and the River of Molten Gold that flowed
from the Emerald Mountain.

In the house opposite to Mywung's there was a great
spendthrift named Lywung, in speaking of whom people
invariably said, " Heaps of money disappeared at the magic
touch of his fingers."

There is a saying that if extremes are put together
and divided by two, the quotients would be the media.

Well, if the niggardliness of the miser Mywung and the
extravagance of the spendthrift Lywung be put together,
accordingly, the mean of common life would no doubt
result from the process.

This spendthrift said to himself, " What does the miser
do with his wealth ? Who is there to inherit it ? The
authorities will get it after all ; so, if possible, let me get it
to myself."'

With this resolve, he put a piece of silver into the hands
of the old woman, and said, " Do you know that I have

12 THE TALES OF THE SIXTY

with me the wonderful bag of blue velvet that gives me
whatever I want ? "

The old woman said she did not know.

Thereupon Lywung gave a detailed account of it. The
next time the old woman saw Mywung, she spoke to him of
the bag of blue velvet.

He remarked, " I was wondering how he was able to
spend so much. He must certainly possess something like
the bag you speak of to give him money incessantly. I
should like to see the bag very much ; but only if you
should be able to get it for a while from him, for I will on
no account permit him to come in."

The old woman communicated this to Lywung.

Instantly he put a piece of gold into the hands of the
woman, and borrowing her clothes, altered his guise so as to
resemble her as much as possible, and went to the miser in
the evening, and in faltering accents said, " Ah, good sir, I
have, after all, got the bag for three short minutes. The
spendthrift is waiting in the street to get it back."

"What is to be done with the bag?" said the miser
with great eagerness.

The old woman said, " It was given to the spendthrift by
a Lama in an oasis in the great desert of Gobi. If you wish
to examine the marvellous properties of the bag, you must
thrust your head into it. There is a noose round its mouth
which will be pulled round the neck. The tighter the noose
is pulled, the more the wealth of the world that will be
seen."

As the time specified was very brief, Mywung thrust his
head into the bag.

The old woman, or the spendthrift in that guise, pulled
the string round his neck. Whether it was the magic in
the bag, or the force of his imagination, or all combined, is
a mystery to this day ; but the miser said he saw more of

THE MISER MYWUNG AND THE BAG. 13

the treasures of the universe the tighter the string was
drawn.

After all it seemed to reach a point of suffocation, and
the spendthrift paused.

" Pull on ! " cried the miser, " I have just got a glimpse
of the great valley of diamonds with the emerald banks and
the ruby caverns ! "

Lywung pulled tighter, and the miser dropped down
dead as though his spirit had disappeared in one of those
caverns in the valley he saw, and refused to return to his
body any more.

** LYWUNG PULLED TIGHTER."

The spendthrift gave him a decent burial, saying, " Poor
man, this is perhaps the only luxury he ever had ; " and
took all his wealth to himself, giving a pittance to the old
woman who had aided him.

When the authorities asked him how he was entitled to
the wealth of Mywung, he said the miser had made it ovei
to him in lieu of the Bag of Blue Velvet, that the latter was
his only property, and that they might take it.

The authorities took the bag, and on opening it found
such a goodly store of gold coins in it, that they said the ends
of justice were completely satisfied, and gave no further
trouble to Lywung,

14 THE TALES OF THE SIXTY MANDARINS.

When the Mandarin had finished his story, the Prince
remarked that he was greatly indebted to him for his kind-
ness, and that he had well illustrated the maxim — The misei
hoards for the spendthrift.

At the same time, the Prince observed that, as a rule,
misers, usurers, and other people of the fraternity were ex-
tremely wary, and that it was the good fortune of Lywung
that blinded Mywung, and made him fall an easy prey to his
own cupidity.

Thereupon another Mandarin rose up, and said, " Mighty
Prince, the remark that misers and usurers are extremely
wary reminds me of the usurer of Ecbatana, who by his
cunning escaped the fatal results of his own folly."

" Who was the usurer of Ecbatana ? How did he escape
the fatal results of his own folly, good Mandarin ? " said the
Prince eagerly.

The Mandarin narrated the story as follows : —

0f (Matana.

In the ancient city of Ecbatana lived a Jew named
Jacob, who was a great usurer. There was a law in the
city that if it was proved that a man received interest at the
rate of a hundred per cent, he should at once be hanged.

So Jacob contented himself with advancing money at
vninety-nine and three quarters per cent., the quarter being
the margin left to evade the law.

The officers of justice, who had ever an eye on Jacob
and his transactions, were watching for an opportunity
to chastise him as he deserved. But the Jew was too
vigilant to get into their clutches.

The only other person that lived with old Jacob was his
fair daughter Eliam, a virgin whose beauty and amiable djs-

THE USURER OF ECBATANA. 15

position were well known to the people of Ecbatana. But
Jacob was very cautious in admitting strangers into his house.

They came to him only on business, and after transacting
it, were promptly shown the street door, without being per-
mitted to loiter in the house for a single moment.

So those who had actually seen Eliam were very few
indeed. But "a veil of mystery enhances beauty," says
the proverb.

So the people ever spoke in rapturous terms of the ex-
traordinary charms of Eliam, and of the precautions taken
by her father to keep her from the sight of strangers.

These reports reached the ears of Vishtasp, the youthful
son of the Satrap, or Governor of Ecbatana. He said to
himself, " Ah, the virgin Eliam, they say, is fair as the smiling
morn in spring. Her accomplishments must, indeed, be
rare to make her the subject of conversation throughout
the city. That man must, indeed, be counted happy who
can call her his wife."

So he went to Jacob, and said, "You know I am
Vishtasp, son of the Satrap of Ecbatana. I love your
daughter with all my heart, and will do everything in my
power to make her happy. So, may I flatter myself with
the hope of obtaining her hand in marriage ? "

The Jew replied, " Vishtasp, you are yet a boy in charge
of a pedagogue ; yet you say you have fallen desperately in
love with my daughter. It is not difficult to see what has
made you so precipitate in the matter. My gold has
temptations which you cannot conveniently resist. Well,
I know more of the world and its ways than you give me
credit for, so the best advice that I can give you at present
is to bid the passion cool and go at once to school/'

This provoked Vishtasp extremely. So he said, " Jacob,
as you have declined to treat the declaration of my love
to your daughter with the consideration which it deserves,

1 6 THE TALES OF THE SIXTY MANDAKIKS.

I do not wish to remain any longer in Ecbatana ; for, if I
did, I should not only make myself extremely unhappy, but
may prove a source of danger to you from the ill-will I shall
bear towards you. I therefore mean to travel in foreign
lands, starting on my journey, as I am, without going home.
Will you advance me some money on this inestimable jewel
which adorns my turban ? "

The Jew pondered within himself for a while on the
subject, and concluding that it would be well to send
Vishtasp out of the city, said, " Well, when and where will
you pay the money back ? What interest will you pay on
it?"

Vishtasp said, " To your agents at Damascus, when I go
there in the course of the year. As to interest, you may
charge a hundred per cent, if you please. It is immaterial
to me."

Jacob said, " As the money is to be paid at Damascus,
will you pay the interest you propose ? "

" With the greatest pleasure," said Vishtasp.

So the necessary deed was executed, and the money
paid on the jewel.

Vishtasp took leave of Jacob, saying, " You will soon
hear from me."

That night, as Jacob was going to bed, a loud knock
was heard at the door. He rushed out to see what had
happened. The officers of justice, with Vishtasp at their
head, were there.

As Jacob gazed at them with a bewildered countenance,
they said, " Now, you have, after all, advanced money at a
hundred per cent, and have, therefore, put yourself under
the power of the law which governs the subject. To-
morrow you will be hanged before sunrise. The Satrap is
awaiting our return, with you in our custody, to pronounce
sentence and then go to bed."

THE USURER OF ECBATANA. 17

The usurer grew pale as death when he heard this.
Soon he recovered his usual self-possession, and solicited
a private interview with Vishtasp. His request was readily
granted.

The outwitted usurer said, " Ah, Vishtasp, you are,
indeed, a shrewd young man. You will certainly be, one
day, the Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Persia. Before
bestowing my daughter on you, I wished to know the depth
of your cunning ; for I had resolved that the most cunning
man alive should wed her. Else, I should have been the
last to risk my life on such a cheap bargain ; for the
sum that will accrue to me at the rate of interest proposed
to-day will be a mere trifle."

This turn which Jacob gave to the whole affair surprised
as ^ell as delighted Vishtasp. Before he could recover
from his astonishment, Jacob brought Eliam and introduced
Vishtasp to her, saying, " Dear child, this is the young
nobleman of whom I have already spoken to you."

From the moment her father had spoken to her of
Vishtasp that evening, she had conceived a very favourable
opinion of him. Now his appearance and conversation but
strengthened the opinion ; so she consented to be his wife.
The usurer solemnly pledged his word that so soon as the
Satrap should give his consent to the contract, the marriage
would be celebrated.

The next morning the Satrap was duly informed by his
son of all that had happened, and gladly gave his consent
to the marriage. The ceremony was celebrated with great
pomp. The story goes on to say that the prediction of the
usurer, Jacob, that his son-in-law would one day be the
Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Persia, was fulfilled.

When Vishtasp filled the high office, the good sense of
Eliam his wife was one of his safest guides. When he
returned from his day's work at the king's court, he laid

1 8 THE TALES OF THE SIXTY MANDARINS

down his mantle, saying, " Now, let me sit by my Eliam and
refresh myself with her smiles and wisdom."

We forgot all about the officers of justice. They re-
turned to the Satrap, saying, " Sire, we could find nothing
to prove that Jacob had advanced money at the rate of
a hundred per cent. ; so we did not arrest him."

The Prince smiled at this last remark of the Mandarin,
and said that Jacob had, no doubt, very cleverly escaped
the fatal result of his folly, that his daughter Eliam was a
rare specimen of her sex, and that the good opinion she
conceived of Vishtasp, when she had heard of him from her
father, did credit to her good sense and feelings.

On hearing this, another Mandarin remarked, "Sire,
youth and innocence are sure to impress the minds of the
fair sex, even as the swain, Hearty Love, of Tonquin,
impressed the mind of the Fairy Periwinkle."

" The Fairy Periwinkle ! " exclaimed the Prince.

"Yes, mighty Prince, the good Fairy Periwinkle," re-
peated the Mandarin.

" Ah, let us know all about the fairy at once, good
Mandarin," said the Prince

The Mandarin narrated the story as follows : —

On the shores of the country of Tonquin, in a little shell
called a Periwinkle', there lived a fairy, who was considered
the most beautiful and accomplished of that beautiful and
accomplished sisterhood known as the fairy world.

People had often seen her go out of the Periwinkle, and
walk on the beach, in the moonlight, now pursuing the

THE FAIRY PERIWINKLE OF TONQUIN. 19

crabs up to their holes, now collecting pretty little shells,
now flying on the breeze some distance over the sea, now
talking to a moonbeam about sundry affairs of the skies,
now plunging into the waves to see how the people at the
sea-bottom fared, and coming up again as trim and tidy as
if she had never been into the water ; now trembling at the
chirping of a cricket, now laughing at the roaring of the
waves, and doing a great many other things, which fairies
generally do when they go out to amuse themselves. There-
fore the people called her the Fairy Periwinkle.

This Fairy Periwinkle one day said to herself, " I have
had various offers of marriage from various fairy princes
and mandarins ; not to speak of the shoals of fairy mer-
chants and bankers that have been constantly swimming
after me. But in the whole fairy race I do not think I shall
find a husband to suit my heart. So let me seek out some
member of the human race, and marry him." With this
resolve the good fairy stood in the breeze one evening, and
said,

"If possible, I wish to marry a man."

The breeze carried the news into the country of Tonquin,
and, knocking at every door, secretly whispered it into the
ears of the maid who opened the door, with a special request
that she should keep the secret to herself, and on no
account gossip about it with others. All the maids promised
solemnly to keep the secret. But, in spite of their strenuous
efforts to do so, it was somehow known to the people that
the fairy Periwinkle was going to marry ; so every one ot
them went up at one and the same time to seek her hand in
marriage. The fairy was alarmed when she saw so many
surrounding her shell to marry her. So she said :

" I am but one little fairy. I cannot, of course, marry
every one ot you. So you must allow me to choose some
one among you for my husband."
C ii

20

THE TALES OF THE SIXTY MANDARINS.

" Ah, that is but fair," exclaimed all the men assembled
around her.

The fairy said, " Now let each come forth and plead his

cause."

Instantly the lawyer Mandarin stepped forth and said,
"I will make an ample settlement in your favour, and
deposit the deed in the Periwinkle in which you live, if you

"EVERY ONE OF THEM WENT UP , .TO SEEK HER HAND" (/. 19).

will marry me. Further, no bounds to my learning, or the
fees I have been earning. In cross-examination I display the
greatest animation. In confounding a thief, or tossing a
debtor, you can never hope to find my better. Give me
your hand, good fairy, and make me for ever happy."

The fairy said, " Sir, I do not understand a word of your
speech, nor should you my ignorance impeach."

Then the doctor Mandarin stepped forth with a lancet
and said, " Fits, fevers, cholers, colics, with me can never

THE FAIRY PERIWINKLE OF TONQUIN. 21

play their frolics. I have pills, I have potions, I have
elixirs ; I can pull out your teeth without your tears. Give
me your hand, good fairy, and reign the queen of my
dispensary."

But the fairy replied, " Sir, I do not want your aid ; as
yet I am a healthy maid."

Then came the philosopher, adjusting his flowing robes,
and said, " I know all about the soul, and all about its
future goal. Life, and all its problems great, and all about
unerring fate, I have studied, and found that wisdom is
the safest guide, and all the rest but bloated pride. Give
me your hand, good fairy, and be the first-fruit of my
philosophy."

But the fairy said he was in a world too high for her, who
was but a little fairy.

Then a youthful swain, named Hearty Love, approached
the fairy, and said, " Good fairy Periwinkle, love is all I
have to give ; by love I move, by love I live."

At once the fairy gave her hand to Hearty Love, the
swain ; the rest a hopeless band, they lingered there in vain.
So the fairy sent them away, saying, she was going to marry,
and that they might go home, and went into her little house
with the swain.

The lawyer Mandarin said that if ever he should meet
Hearty Love he would sue him for damages. The doctor
Mandarin said he would bleed him to death. The philo-
sopher said he would prove to the world that Hearty Love
was a hymeneal empiric, a marital mountebank, a charlatan
that trifled with feminine hearts, and a quack that dealt in
love nostrums.

The swain replied he could not hear what they said, for
he and his wife had gone to bed.

The people assembled round the tiny mansion of the
fairy asked the Mandarins and the philosopher why they did

22 THE TALES OF THE SIXTY MANDARINS.

not accuse one another for having ventured to apply for
the hand of the fairy. They replied, as they went home,
" It is the first of nature's laws that all our failures have
one cause."

The Prince remarked, " No doubt this is a pretty little
story ; the Mandarins and the philosopher made a mistake
when they thought that their learning, or wealth, or wisdom,
would produce a favourable impression upon the youthful
and amiable fairy Periwinkle. It is therefore a matter for
wonder why they applied for her hand at all."

Another Mandarin replied, " Sire, they must have done
so in a mood of self-sufficiency, like the learned hermit
Papatup, who very nearly drowned himself in the Lake
Manasasara, because he fancied he could achieve a feat
which was quite beyond his power."

"Ah, let us know all about Papatup," exclaimed the
Prince, eagerly ; " we have heard of the great lake
Manasasara, but never yet about the hermit you spoke of,
good Mandarin."

Steint.

To the north of the Himalaya Mountains, in the country
of Thibet, there is the great lake Manasasara, which
literally means a lake so beautiful and romantic as to be
called a creation of the imagination. On the banks of this
lake lived a holy Buddhist hermit, named Papatup, which
means one that has burned sin, or a person of great sanctity
and wisdom.

This hermit Papatup had a great many disciples. But
of them all, there was one named Sidhartha, after the great
founder of the holy Buddha religion, who was specially dear

THE SELF-SUFFICIENT SAINT. 23

to him. Sidhartha was but a youth ; yet the benignity of
his disposition, the extent of his learning, the depth of his
wisdom, the austere purity of his life, and the peculiar
sanctity of his character made him a source of special pride
to his master.

When asked what his guides in life were, he would
reply, u The wisdom of the great Buddha, the approbation of
all the dutiful and good, and the faith I have in my saintly
preceptor, Papatup, are my only guides through this world
of woe."

The fame of Sidhartha spread over the whole Buddhist
world, and learned men from all parts of it came to listen to
his wise exposition of some of the most abstruse doctrines
of the holy faith. In course of time, it so happened that
people referred to Papatup himself only as the preceptor of
Sidhartha.

Sidhartha had his house on the shores of the lake, at a
considerable distance from the spot were Papatup had his
hermitage. He spent the greater part of his time with his
preceptor, and occasionally paid a visit to his parents, who
were justly proud of such a son, and loved him tenderly.
Sidhartha was equally attached to them, especially to his
mother, who had taught him in early youth a great many
good and useful things.

The lady had requested her son to come home on a par-
ticular fast day, when she wished to have him by her side.
It so happened that on that day a great many learned men
from Lassa and other great centres of Buddhist learning and
civilisation came to the hermitage and held a very edifying
conversation with Papatup and his disciples. Sidhartha,
according to his wont, took the leading part, and gave the
learned visitors more satisfaction than they had promised
themselves from his company.

It was evening when they had concluded, and the learned

24 THE TALES OF THE SIXTY MANDARINS.

men rose, saying, " Now we may separate for a while, for it
is the day of the fast." Here they specified the fast by name.

Sidhartha was startled to hear it; for his mother had
solicited him to be present that day at home. Across the
lake it was nearly half a day's journey in a boat ; around the
lake on foot it was more. Sidhartha was very sorry for the
neglect with which he had treated his mother's request.
So he hastened to the wharf where he could get into the
boat that was to take him across the lake. But, unfortunately
for him, such a severe tempest arose that the boatmen would
not stir out from their huts.

" I shall part with all the wealth I am master of, if you
will land me on the opposite shore," said he.

They replied, " If you will calm the waves, which rise
like mountains, smooth the swelling surf that breaks upon
the rocks, and bid the eddying pool stand still, we will
leave our huts at once, and do our duty."

Thereupon, Sidhartha, in great agony of mind, stood in
the water knee-deep, and said, " If the love I bear to my
parents be true, if my faith in my preceptor is sincere, let
me reach the opposite shore safely this instant," and got
into the lake, essaying to wade through it. To his astonish-
ment, it was knee-deep wherever he went. So, with little or
no difficulty, and in a wonderfully short space of time, he
reached his house, and had the gratification to hear his
mother say, "Ah, dear Sidhartha, you have come just in
time!"

Instantly the boatmen ran to Papatup, and told him
what had happened.

Papatup asked what mysterious formula his pupil had
pronounced before descending into the lake.

The boatmen, who had heard the latter part of Sidhartha's
words, said that he invoked the faith he had in his preceptor,
and that carried him through the lake.

THE SELF-SUFFICIENT SAINT. 25

Papatup argued within himself thus : " If the mere
faith which he had in my sanctity and wisdom was able to do
so much, how much more should I not be able to accom-
plish, who actually possess the sanctity and wisdom ! Let it
not be said that Papatup was behind his pupil, Sidhartha,
in working miracles ! "

So saying, Papatup descended into the lake, assuring
himself and the boatmen that stood near that if the waters
were knee-deep to Sidhartha, they would be but ankle-deep

"HE PLUNGED ABRUPTLY INTO THE WATER."

to his preceptor Papatup. But scarcely had he proceeded
a few paces, when he plunged abruptly into the water
beyond his depth and disappeared. While the boatmen
were wondering what had become of him, a huge wave lifted
him upon its crest, and tossed him into a deep valley of the
troubled waters again, and the boatmen had much ado in
bringing him back to shore.

When Papatup regained his senses, he exclaimed, " Ah,
pupils may, after all, be superior to their preceptors in wisdom
and sanctity ! "

When the people living on the banks of the lake came
to know the real cause of the mishap that had occurred to
Papatup, they called him "the self-sufficient saint," and
he was long known as such on the banks of the Lake
Manasasara.

26 THE TALES OF THE SIXTY MANDARINS.

When the Mandarin had finished the story of Papatup,
the Prince observed, "Instances in which youthful men
have proved more holy and powerful than saints of long
standing are, indeed, rare. Papatup must have imagined
that, as Sidhartha was younger, therefore he was less
endowed with sanctity and strength."

Another Mandarin replied, "Sire, Papatup made a
blunder which was analogous to another committed by the
Righteous Regicide Parasuram, but his disgrace was cer-
tainly not so great as that of Parasuram."

" Ah ? Who was the Righteous Regicide Parasuram ? "
said the Prince.

The Mandarin told the story as follows : —

In India, in ancient times, there was a great saint, who
had the wonderful power of going to any place he liked with
the swiftness of a glance of mind. He was popularly known
as the Righteous Regicide Parasuram. His father had been
killed through the instrumentality of a certain king. There-
fore Parasuram took an oath that he would put to death
every king on earth that came in his way, unless he was
engaged in wedding a lady at the time he saw him. Ac-
cordingly, the Righteous Regicide, with a great battle-axe,
which was his weapon, killed a great many kings, with their
families, and threw them into a lake of blood which he had
created.

A few of the kings of earth escaped the fury of Parasuram
by marrying a lady every day on which Parasuram paid them
a visit. But the rest sent up their supplications to heaven
to put a stop to the atrocities of the king-killer, and a voice
came forth in reply to this effect — " In the city of Ayodhya,

THE RIGHTEOUS REGICIDE. 27

which is situated on the banks of the Sarayu, in the King-
dom of Kossala, which is situated to the north of the great
river Janhavi, or Gunga, will be born of King Dasaratha and
his Queen Kousalya Rama, the avenger of your wrongs."

The kings of earth, therefore, waited patiently till the
great avenger was born.

While yet Rama was a youth, a sage, named Visvamitra,
came to his father, King Dasaratha, when he was at court
with his High Priest, Vasishta, and a great many other holy
men, and said, " I have been harassed by a band of giants,
who have constantly entered my hermitage, and impeded
my holy rites and ministrations. Prithee, sire, lend me
the services of your son Rama, that I may stay the plun-
dering of the marauders."

King Dasaratha replied, " Holy sire, my son is yet a
youth ; he cannot contend against the giants you speak of.

The sage replied, " I know the greatness of Rama,
whose might consists in truth and holiness. There is your
High Priest, Vasishta, who knows it ; and there are the other
sages of your court, whose holy wisdom has perceived the
same."

So King Dasaratha sent Rama and his brother Lakch-
mana with the sage. Rama repulsed the marauders and
put an end to their depredations. The sage Visvamitra was
highly pleased.

He said, " Rama, in the city of Mithila, in the country
of Vidaha, King Janaka celebrates a holy sacrifice ; let
us repair to the city."

So Rama, with his brother Lakchmana, accompanied
the sage and his companions to Mithila.

After crossing the river Gunga, and passing through
a great many provinces and. cities, they approached the city
of Mithila, where was performed the miracle known as " the
Redemption of Ahalya." The beauteous Ahalya was the

28 THE TALES OF THE SIXTY MANDARINS.

wife of a sage named Gontama. In an unguarded moment
she erred against the rules of virtue, and the irate sage, her
husband, doomed her to an invisible existence, in a wood
near Mithila, subject to the condition that she should
resume her former shape and rejoin her husband when
Rama entered the wood.

So, as Rama stepped into the wood, Ahalya resumed her
former shape, and after doing him the honours of the place,
rejoined her husband.

When the sage Visvamitra, with Rama and Lakchmana,
entered Mithila, King Janaka received them with every
attention, and said : —

" You have all heard of the great bow that I have in my
custody, and the reward I have promised to bestow on him
that bends it ? "

This reward was the hand of the Princess Secta, the
daughter of King Janaka.

The sage and the Princes said they knew it.

Thereupon King Janaka ordered the great bow to be
brought.

Rama took it up with ease, although it was of extraordin-
ary weight, and bent it. In this process the bow snapped.

It must be remembered, in this connection, that the
bow belonged to the preceptor of the Righteous Regicide
Parasuram.

King Janaka requested King Dasaratha, with his other
sons, Bharata and Satrugna, and all his family and court to
repair to Mithila, and bestowed the Princess Secta on Rama,
saying, "This is Secta, my daughter, your partner in life;
accept her with love and esteem, and live happily with her
for ever."

Then he bestowed on each of the three remaining
princes a princess of his family.

When the royal weddings were over, Visvamitra took

THE RIGHTEOUS REGICIDE. 29

leave of his young friends, and repaired to some holy haunt
in the Himalayas, where he wished to spend the remaining
days of his life.

King Dasaratha, with, his sons Rama, Lakchmana,
Bharata, and Satrugna, started on his journey to Ayodhya.
When they had proceeded some distance, the earth trem-
bled as if an earthquake shook it, and the saint Parasuram,
with his monstrous battle-axe, and a great bow to boot,
presented himself abruptly before Rama, and said with
a sneer, " Now then, my little man, you snapped the bow
of my preceptor at Mithila, and married the fair Princess
Secta — did you not ? Well, here is another bow for you to
bend. When you shall have bent it, we shall have some
wrestling, and something else thereafter till you should be
utterly discomfited."

Rama said nothing in reply, for it was his wont to say
nothing when people bantered. He received the bow, and
bending it, he adjusted the string and shaft in an instant.

" Ah, this is indeed another miracle ! for he that bends
this bow with such ease must indeed be more than
human ! "

This was not all. In receiving the bow from Parasu-
ram, Rama utterly extracted all his might and energy from
him. So he became utterly powerless.

Rama said, "I have fitted the shaft to the string, and
you must point out some vicarious victim to it, if you wish
to escape."

Parasuram said, " I have long possessed, as all the world
knows, the wonderful power of going to any place I like
with the swiftness of a glance of mind. Let the shaft
demolish that power."

So the Righteous Regicide was deprived of the power,
and as he could hardly move thereafter, he did no more
harm to the kings of earth, but contented himself with

30 THE TALES OF THE SIXTY MANDARINS.

spending the remaining days of his life on a mountain
named Mahendra, where he had his home — ever cherishing
with reverence the memory of the great avenger of the
kings of earth.

The Prince remarked, " Ah, the story is a good illus-
tration of the adage — ' Conquerors often meet with defeat
from a quarter where they least expect it.' "

Another Mandarin, who wished to take this opportunity
to relate another story to the Prince, said, " Sire, Parasuram,
like the Giant Ever-bidding, in the story of Tullima and the
Sunbeam, no doubt met with discomfiture in a quarter
where he least expected it."

The Prince asked, " Who was the Giant Ever-bidding ?
How did he figure in the story of Tullima and the Sunbeam,
good Mandarin ? "

The Mandarin spoke as follows : —

Smllima anir

In the Island of Niphon, there was a giant who went to
people and said, "Give me a bidding." When they gave
him one, he did it at once and asked for another. When
this was given, he did it at once and asked for a third. In
this manner, he asked for biddings incessantly and did
them.

If any paused or failed to give him biddings, he devoured
them at once, saying, " This person has fallen to my share
by the right I possess of devouring those that fail to give me
biddings."

The people were in despair, and said they would make
that person Sovereign of the island who drove Ever-bidding
out of it.

LITTLE TULLIMA AND THE SUNBEAM. 31

A shopkeeper said he would drive out Ever-bidding.
The people solicited him to do so at once.

His shop was built of pieces of paste-board, on which
were placarded such phrases as " selling off," " selling on,"
" selling in," " selling out," selling up," selling down," and
sundry other challenges to the trade to sell cheaper if
possible. The goods in the shop were as well arranged as
ever ; for he scarcely had a customer from New Year's day
to New Year's day.

He asked Ever-bidding to bring customers to his shop.
Instantly so many people came that all the goods were sold,
and while the shopkeeper was considering what stock he
was to take next, Ever-bidding made a morsel of him, saying,
" We can sell no more ! "

There was a physician, who advertised a great many
pills, potions, and panaceas. He told Ever-bidding to bring
him a great many herbs and drugs from different parts of
the world. Ever-bidding brought them all at once. While
the physician was considering what he was to ask him to do
next, Ever-bidding made a morsel of him, saying, " You are
not such a good pill after all ! "

There was a miser, who told Ever-bidding to bring him
all the wealth of the world.

Instantly all the wealth of the world was in the hand of
the miser.

Then the miser said, " Take me to a lake of gold, where
I may bathe \ put me by a table of gold where I may dine ;
lay me on a couch of gold where I may sleep."

Ever-bidding did so.

The miser said, " I have had all the wealth of the world
brought to me. I can hope to get nothing more. Fortune
is a fickle maid, as the proverb says ; so the next moment
she may change. Let me therefore go off in this — the
happiest condition of my life."

32 THE TALES OF THE SIXTY MANDARINS.

As he thus paused, Ever-bidding came to make a morse)
of him.

The miser said, "Ah, Ever-bidding, I am extremely
indebted to you for all your kind offices. There is but one
wish more to be gratified. Just put me in a coffin of gold,
on a hearse of gold, and after driving through a street of
gold towards a cemetery of gold, bury me for five seconds in
a grave of gold, and then make a morsel of me ! "

Ever-bidding was kind enough to do so.

There was a Mandarin who was very learned in the laws
of the country.

The people went to him and said, " Good Mandarin, is
there nothing in the big books you keep constantly turning,
that would enable you to get rid of him somehow ? "

Instantly, the Mandarin gave Ever-bidding a great many
subtle questions to be answered about brothers and cousins
who struggled to get at one another's property ; about
creditors who wanted to drive their debtors and their children
from their homes because the mole-hills they had lent to
them had become mountains ; about husbands and wives
who disliked each other ; about people who were prepared
to spend thousands to walk by a certain foot-path while
those to whom it belonged said they should not; and
sundry other points which the Mandarin and the people
fancied formed together a clever trap to catch Ever-bidding.

But he answered them all, pointing to the texts and cases
bearing on each.

The poor Mandarin had to acknowledge his defeat, and
Ever-bidding made a morsel of him, while the Mandarin
persisted in calling it manslaughter and murder as he went
down his throat.

Then a great many other people tried their skill at
giving biddings, but were eventually devoured by him.

There was a little girl named Tullima, who was very

LITTLE TULLIMA AND THE SUNBEAM. 33

gentle and amiable. She was the only child of her parents,
who were very poor. One evening Ever-bidding chanced
to meet her as she was returning from the field where her
father had been working, and stopped her, saying,

" Give me a bidding."

Her mother, who was close by, said, " Ah Ever-bidding,
this is the only child I have ; do leave her to herself and go
to some one else who may be in a better position to give
biddings to one of your wonderful ability and skill."

But the giant was inexorable. So the mother of
Tullima stood shedding tears and sobbing aloud at a
distance.

But Tullima, with that courage which innocent and
amiable hearts often command, said, "Good Ever-bidding,
our hut is almost in ruins ; make it a nice little cottage."
Instantly the hut became a nice little cottage.

" Give father corn enough for the year," said Tullima.

The corn was there.

" Give mamma a brindled cow," said Tullima.

The cow was there.

After asking for some more necessaries of life and
getting them, Tullima said, " Good Ever-bidding, I have
long been desirous of possessing a sunbeam to myself. I
have a pretty little work-box in which I wish to put it, and
shall feel much obliged to you if you can get it for me.
There are a few yet lingering on the top of the hill there."

Ever-bidding ran to fetch a sunbeam for Tullima,
saying, " I have got her after all." But he could not catch
any of them.

He said, " These beams seem to help one another in
resisting me ; I will wait until only one lingers and then
seize it."

So he waited. But when the sun went, the sunbeam
went with him. Ever-bidding trembled from head to foot,

34 THE TALES OF THE SIXTY MANDARINS.

and left the island, exclaiming, " Alas, what a brilliant career
was mine ! How sadly it has ended ! To be conquered in
this style by a little innocent girl on account of a sunbeam
—it looks more like a dream than a reality ! "
Tullima became the Queen of the island.

"EVER-BIDDING RAN TO FETCH A SUNBEAM" (/>. 33).

When the Mandarin had finished the story, the Prince
said, "Asking people for a bidding, and then devouring
them was the dagger with which the giant stabbed his
victims. But the proverb says, ' Some day a man's heart
may prove the sheath of his own dagger.' So the giant
Ever-bidding was, indeed, worsted by his own weapon."

Another Mandarin, who was eager to tell a story of his
own to the Prince and secure the praise which had been
accorded to his companion, said, " Sire, the Giant Ever-
bidding, like the Boy Bahadur with the Magic Club, no
doubt, found defeat and ignominy from his own instrument;,"

THE BOY BAHADUR AND THE MAGIC CLUB. 35

The Prince eagerly asked, " Who was the Boy Bahadur ?
How did the Magic Club turn against its own master, good
Mandarin ? "

The Mandarin related the story as follows : —

38aljaiwr attft tljs jWak (flub.

In a country not far from China, there was a boy
named Bahadur, who was very fond of stealing other folks'
property. At the same time he was very jealous of other
thieves like himself. If any of them went to steal the fruit
in an orchard, he tried his best to get as much of the spoil
to himself as he possibly could. He was very clever and
nimble; so nobody could catch him, while most of his
associates were often seized and punished. Therefore they
remarked that Bahadur had it all his own way, while they
were whipped at the end of every doubtful adventure.

The longer his lease of impunity the greater became the
greed and vanity of Bahadur. So, he once went to a Genius,
who lived in a mountain close by, and said, " Good Genius,
I must have some instrument which will glorify me. Do
grant me one."

The Genius replied, " Well, to those that have committed
ten clever thefts undetected I grant a club called Zubbur-
dust. Those that have achieved a hundred feats of the
kind are entitled to a heavy mace called Burra Zubburdust.
The illustrious folk that have solved a thousand difficult pro-
blems in the thieving art are rewarded with a wonderfully
good scimitar called Burra Burra Zubburdust. Now let me
know without reserve all that you have done, that I may
judge of your merits and reward you accordingly.7'

Bahadur, who fancied he had done enough to get the
scimitar, narrated at length a great many feats in which he
P 3

36 THE TALES OF THE SIXTY MANDARINS.

had victimised, with marvellous skill and celerity, apple-
women, orchard-keepers, cake vendors, and sundry other
people, and deprived them of their wares.

The Genius made a long calculation within himself, and
said that all the really clever feats in themselves amounted
to nine tricks and three-quarters ; that he called them tricks
because they were more thieving tricks than genuine clever
thefts ; that he added by way of grace a quarter, and
that made up the number which entitled him to the magic
club.

Bahadur was quite mortified to hear that, after all, what
he had actually accomplished was so little, so he exclaimed,
" Ah, I hoped to get the scimitar ! "

" Ah, Bahadur," said the Genius, " we often hope for
mountains, when \ve are but entitled to molehills ; so never
mind your hopes. Will you take the magic club, or not ?
— say yes or no. "

Bahadur, finding the Genius determined on the subject,
quietly consented to take the club.

The Genius handed it over to him, saying, " This will,
indeed, glorify you. Whenever you wish to find out a thief,
say, ' Zubburdust, bring the thief,' and it will bring him to
you, or to anybody else to whom you may direct it,
knocking him over the knuckles all the way. But if
ever you get into trouble, it will leave you that very
moment."

Having acquired this great instrument, Bahadur every
morning seated himself on a high rock adjacent to the town
in which he lived, and said, "Zubburdust, bring all the
thieves of yesterday." Instantly all the thieves of the
previous day would be brought to him, with hard knocks
over the knuckles.

In that town the greatest number of thieves was among
the servants of the Sultan, so among the culprits whom the

THE BOY BAHADUR AND THE MAGIC CLUB. 37

club brought to Bahadur daily, figured a great many of the
palace servants.

The Sultan came to know of Bahadur as the wonderful
thief-catcher, and was glad that he and his magic club were
doing such useful work for the public good. But Bahadur
had his own principles of equity in dealing with the thieves.
He generally took one-half the stolen property to himself,
and let them off with the remainder.

One day, to Bahadur's surprise and delight, the club
brought to him the chief of the Sultan's eunuchs, dealing
hard knocks over his knuckles.

" What have you done, my good man ? " said Bahadur,
with a laugh.

" Unfortunately, sir, I stole a gem in the turban of the
Sultan," said the chief.

"Ah," said Bahadur, with a mischievous wink, "you
need not be concerned on that score ; we have all our
weaknesses. Now let me see the gem."

The eunuch gave the gem. Bahadur put it into his
pocket, and fancying it was an excellent opportunity to
curry favour with the Sultan, ran to his Majesty, and
divulged the secret.

The Sultan asked the eunuch to explain his conduct.

He replied, "Sire, I request your Majesty to ask
Bahadur to order his magic club to bring to us the
offender."

" That is but right," said the Sultan, turning to the owner
of the wonderful club.

Instantly, Bahadur said, "Now, Zubburdust, I bid thee
take the man that has stolen the gem in the Sultan's turban,
and lock him up in the palace jail."

• Scarcely had he finished speaking, when Zubburdust
began to operate on the knuckles of poor Bahadur himself —
for he had the gem in his pocket — and did not stop till it

38 THE TALES OF THE SIXTY MANDARINS.

had thrust him into jail, and shutting him up in it, left him
for ever, for he had got into trouble.

Zubburdust dealt such hard knocks over the knuckles of
poor Bahadur, that he exclaimed, " Ah, when this club,
Zubburdust itself, is so hard in dealing with its victims, what
must be the energy of the monster, Burra Zubburdust, and
the fiend, Burra Burra Zubburdust, who, the Genius said,
exist in the shape of a mace and scimitar respectively ! "

"ZUBBURDUST DEALT SUCH HARD KNOCKS."

The Sultan and his eunuch had a hearty laugh over it.
The eunuch, who had done the whole thing on purpose to
bring Bahadur to grief, because he had been the source of
constant annoyance to the thieves in the Sultan's palace,
celebrated his victory over the thief-catcher with all his
jubilant companions.

A great many other people who had daily suffered at the
hands of Bahadur went to see him, and every one of them said,
"Ah, Bahadur, you have been after all glorified by your club!"

As often as they said so, poor Bahadur exclaimed, " Alas !
it is, indeed, hard that the thief-catcher should himself be

THE BASKET IN THE STREAM. 39

caught. Oh for a Zubburdust that would not try conclusions
with its owner ! "

The Prince observed, " So it was, after all, the artifice
of the chief eunuch that brought about the downfall of
Bahadur."

Another Mandarin observed, " Sire, people that are a
source of constant annoyance to others are often subdued,
even as Pahili subdued his wife, Comaya, by the aid of the
Basket in the Stream."

The Prince said. " Good Mandarin, it must, indeed, be
interesting to know how Pahili conquered his wife Comaya.
Do relate the story."

The Mandarin related it as follows \—

Saskt in tfc

In the Shan country there was a man named Pahili, who
had a wife named Comaya. She was one of those women
who are never satisfied with their husbands. If Pahili sat,
she said he sat in a manner peculiarly his own. If he stood,
he did not stand like other men. If he walked, why it was
a strange gait he presented. If he coughed or sneezed, why
it was a most unearthly sound. If ever he ventured to smile,
she exclaimed, " Ah, good husband, what makes you weep?"
and if he appeared in good humour, she said, " Ah, good
husband, you have the knack of being pleasant in the midst
of misery ! "

Poor Pahili was, therefore, ever on the alert to avoid
giving occasion for such unsavoury remarks. This caution
again on his part gave rise to the invariable observation —

" Good husband, remember you are not surrounded by
bears, wolves, and hyenas, but in the midst of human beings.''

40 THE TALES OF THE SIXTY MANDARINS.

If, pestered by such poignant gibe and banter, Palnli
said he would flee to the woods and be happy, Cornaya
would exclaim —

" Ah, good husband, you will find me there ! "

Pahili was not very well off in point of temporal
means, but Comaya was very extravagant. Every orna-
ment that women in the neighbourhood wore she must
have. Every article of apparel that suited her fancy
should be supplied to her at once. In spite of his diffi-
culties, Pahili took care not only to supply all the wants
of his wife, but most of her whims also in this department.
If, after he had given her some coveted article of dress or
ornament, he approached her with an air of satisfaction,
she would at once cut him down, saying —

" Ah, good husband, what credit you take to yourself
for the trinkets and trumpery that you have got for me
to-day."

This would, of course, bring poor Pahili to his senses,
and make him eat humble pie.

As time advanced, the wants and whims of Madame
Pahili increased. In the course of the same day she
often made a great many purchases, and the tradesmen
sent Pahili a great many bills ; for tradesmen's bills exist
all the world over in some shape or other. If they are on
paper in Pekin, they are on palm-leaf in the Shan country.
The strain was too great on the resources of Pahili. So,
after all, he grew bold, and said to his wife —

"Good Comay?s I can give you no more money."

Comaya replied —

"Well, good husband, you speak as if you had given
me money before. I should like to know when you
did?"

Of course, Pahili confessed, by his silence, his inability
to reply to this query ; while Comaya threw before him a

THE BASKET IN THE STREAM. 41

great bundle of bills from the tradesmen, which had not yet
been paid.

Pahili wreaked his vengeance on the bundle by putting
upon it a covering bill with the words, " The result of a
wife's extravagance " ; while Comaya lost no time in doing
justice to her own feelings on the subject by attaching to
the bundle another bill with the words, " The result of a
husband's incompetency."

Thereupon, words ran high between husband and wife,
and they agreed to submit their case for decision to a spirit,
who, they knew, lived in a river close by, Comaya speci-
fying the process as follows —

" We will put the bills in a basket and set it down on
the stream next morning. If it floats against the current,
you are right, and I will be ever after your obedient and
humble wife. But if it floats down with the current, I am
right, and you shall be more obedient and humble than
ever."

" Agreed ! " said Pahili, and going to a friend of his,
who was famous all over the country as a great swimmer,
said —

"My good friend, here is a fair chance of subduing my
wife once for all, if you will only help me to-morrow."

Then they conversed long on the method to be adopted,
and settled it ; while the other, as if he spoke from his
own bitter experience on the subject, concluded with the
observation —

"All mankind must unite in aiding a man who tries
to tame a termagant wife."

The next morning Pahili and Comaya carried the
basket together, and set it down on the waters of the
stream. Instead of going down with the current, as
Comaya had shrewdly imagined, it went up right against
it; for the friend of Pahili was in the water pulling it

42 THE TALES OF THE SIXTY MANDARINS.

after him the other way, without giving the slightest indi-
cation of his presence there.

Poor Comaya was nonplussed for the first time in her
life ; and as the basket continued to travel up the stream
with incredible rapidity, she addressed her husband as
follows —

" Now, if the spirit of the river is really pulling it up
the other way, in your favour, let us examine the basket
and see if there is any written indication of its will in
it."

So, they stopped the basket, and, opening it, they found
a note to this effect —

" If Comaya, or any other termagant wife in the Shan
country does not rectify her ways at once, let her have the
ducking-stool, on the banks of this very stream, without a
moment's hesitation, and, I shall be on the spot to see
that she is well chastised."

The universal fiat of the spirit, who appeared to have
issued it in a very angry tone, startled Comaya. From that
day forth she seldom stirred out of her house, nor did her
tongue stir out of its retreat in that capacious region of
human volubility, the mouth. Further, from that day forth
Pahili had no more tradesmen's bills to pay ; nor had he
any unkind words from Comaya.

The story of Pahili's victory over his wife went abroad,
and was hailed as a God-send by all the other good folk
in the Shan country, who had been similarly afflicted by
that prevailing malady, which some have called, in vulgar
phrase, wife-bother, and others, more learned and euphe-
mistic, designate by such expressions as uxorious annoy-
ance and connubial infelicity. As the good luck of these
men would have it, the wives of the Shan country are
to this day in the dark as to the trick by which Pahili
subdued his irrepressible wife. So, if a wife should un-

THE QUEER GLADIATOR. 43

wittingly take it into her head to annoy her husband to any
the least degree, the latter exclaims —

" Now, good wife, let us put our quarrels in a basket,
and go to the river-spirit for decision."

This, of course, instantly brings the wife to her senses.
So the husbands in the Shan country remember Pahili as
the great Patriarch of the tribe of successful husbands,
while the wives remember Comaya as an ancient martyr to
masculine vanity and tyranny.

The Prince exclaimed, "Ah, but for the secrecy with
which Pahili conducted his operations, Comaya had not
been so easily subdued ! "

Another Mandarin, who wished to secure the admiration
of the Prince, like his other companions, said, " Sire, a veil
of mystery has often sheltered the weakest, and in some
instances it has given them the victory over the most
powerful opponents, as in the case of the Queer Gladiator,
who said he was skilled in symbolical fencing."

" The Queer Gladiator ! Symbolical fencing ! Who ever
heard of such? Good Mandarin, let us know all about
them without any further delay," said the Prince.

The Mandarin related the story as follows : —

In the ancient Kingdom of Corea there was a monarch,
who was very'fond of witnessing the performances of acro-
bats, wrestlers, gladiators, and other prize-fighters. He kept
a great many of these men, paying them large sums of
money, and training them from time to time under his own
personal care. Some, who were considered the strongest
and the cleverest, belonged to what was called the First

44 THE TALES OF THE SIXTY MANDARINS.

Brigade. Others, slightly inferior to them in strength and
skill, were counted men of the Second. All other men,
who had the ambition to perform, but had neither the
physical energy nor the training required for it, came under
the Third ; and the King gave them a pittance from time
to time, rewarding thereby, as he said, their inclination to
distinguish themselves rather than their intrinsic merit in
that respect.

His Majesty was also fond of such men as made him
laugh constantly. " He that makes me laugh," said the King,
" shall have a high reward, however insignificant his pains
may be."

Hence, all the wits and wags, humourists and harlequin*;,
mimics and motley fools, and a great many others of that
populous brotherhood known as the laughing and the
laughter-making tribe, congregated at the Court of his
Majesty, and often drove him to the necessity of holding
his ribs very tightly.

Of these, there was one who was as remarkable for his
madcap tricks as he was small and ugly in size. The King
called him Caterpillar, because, as his Majesty observed,
he spun out the threads of his wit and humour even as that
worm spun out threads of silk in one of its progressive
stages.

The people, with whom Caterpillar was a great fa-
vourite, delighted in calling him by such names as Spider-
leg, Apple-pate, Currant-eye, from the very diminutive size
of the limb or organ referred to in each.

Caterpillar, in spite of all his defects and disadvantages,
had the audacity to call himself the Captain of the Third
Brigade, observing that all inefficient men went into it;
that he was the most gifted with that qualification called
inefficiency, and that, therefore, he had the best right to
the command of the Brigade.

THE QUEER GLADIATOR. 45

Not content with assuming the title of the Captain of
the Third Brigade, he constantly rallied the ablest men
of the First Brigade, saying, "The best men generally
go down when there is an emergency, even as the best
stones go to the bottom when there is a flood. There will
be a day, I am sure, when you will seek my help, and when
I shall become your Captain."

The men of the First Brigade would ask, " Ah, Cater-
pillar, what will you do when you become Captain ol
our Brigade ? "

He would reply, " Why, I will make each of you my
horse for a day."

There was a gladiator named Mountain Shoulder, in the
Kingdom of Japan, who came to the King of Corea, and
said, " I challenge the strongest and boldest of the First
Brigade of your Majesty to single combat. I am, as your
Majesty sees, seven feet high ; my sword is fourteen, and
my spear twenty-seven. Should your men despair of coping
with me, let them say so to my face, that I may make a
note of their names in the list of vanquished foes that
I keep, and go to the Courts of other monarchs, where
I may find foemen more worthy of my steel. "

The King of Corea, who was quite provoked by the
defiant speech of Mountain Shoulder, turned to his
men.

They said, " We can fight with men, but not with giants
like Mountain Shoulder."

" Then," said the King in an angry tone, " am I to
understand that there is not one among you to fight
Mountain Shoulder ? "

Caterpillar stepped forth and said, "Your humble
servant will fight Mountain Shoulder, and maintain the
glory of your Majesty's name untarnished."

The King laughed outright. But Caterpillar said he was

46 THE TALES OF THE SIXTY MANDARINS.

in earnest, and that he was not to be dissuaded from his
purpose.

So Mountain Shoulder was asked to meet Caterpillar
in the arena.

Mountain Shoulder waved his sword, fourteen feet long,
wondering how Caterpillar would withstand the charge.

But before he could recover from his wonder, Caterpillar
said, " Well, my good fellow, Mountain Shoulder, let me tell
you I have a sword twenty-eight feet long ; but I have not
brought it, because I do not want it, as you will see ere long.
So put your sword by, and tell me if you have any objection
to do a little symbolical fencing at first."

" What is symbolical fencing ?" said Mountain Shoulder.

" Well," said Caterpillar, after casting a glance of the
utmost contempt at his adversary, " if you do not under-
stand symbolical fencing, which is the very alphabet of
gladiators, I would like to know what you have learnt at all."

This struck dismay into the heart of Mountain Shoulder.
Yet, as he had to keep up with his adversary, he said,
" Well, let us have some symbolical fencing at first, as you
say."

" Will you be the aggressor, or shall I commence ? " said
Caterpillar.

Mountain Shoulder said he conceded the honour of com-
mencing to his adversary, the secret being that Mountain
Shoulder did not know how to commence.

Instantly, Caterpillar pointed to the north, brought his
hand to the level of his shoulder, then to the level of his
waist, then to the level of his knee, then passed an imaginary
knife round his own throat, and clenching his fist, shook
it at Mountain Shoulder in the attitude of a man who eagerly
asked a question, and said, " Now, my good fellow, Moun-
tain Shoulder, tell me what this pass means, and we shall
proceed further,"

MOUNTAIN SHOULDKR WAVED HIS SWORD" (/. 6),

THE QUEER GLADIATOR. 49

Mountain Shoulder recalled to his mind all the lessons
in fencing that he had received from the greatest masters
of the art in Japan ; but not one of them furnished him with
a clue to find out the meaning of Caterpillar's pass.

So he requested the King of Corea to grant him a day to
answer the query. His Majesty readily granted his request.

Instantly Caterpillar stepped forth, and said, " Well, my
good fellow, Mountain Shoulder, when next we meet, I shall
have to bring such weapons as would be compatible with the
size of my adversary ; for instance, if it should come to the
question of cutting your throat, I shall be able to accom-
plish it better with a knife two feet long than one of a foot.
So tell me with what weapons you mean to fight when next
we meet."

Mountain Shoulder, who was absorbed in his endeavours
to solve the problem in symbolical fencing which Cater-
pillar had set him, gave no reply ; but went home, and
finding himself no wiser at the end of the day, decamped,
with his followers, leaving the city at dead of night.

The King asked Caterpillar for an explanation of the
problem in symbolical fencing.

Caterpillar said, " Sire, I simply meant that in the northern
part of this city there lived in my house my wife, who came
up to my shoulders in height ; my first child, who came up to
my waist in height ; and my second child, who came up to
my knee in height ; that Mountain Shoulder was determined
to cut my throat, and that I was determined to know how he
was to dispose of them all after disposing of me ! "

His Majesty, who roared with laughter, made Caterpillar
Captain of the First Brigade on the spot, and he rode on
the shoulders of a man of the Brigade every day, and the
men bore him with pleasure, calling him their great Captain
Caterpillar, who had delivered them from Mountain
Shoulder.
E

so THE TALES OF THE SIXTY MANDARINS.

But Mountain Shoulder, who, from the day he decamped
ignominiously from the Capital of Corea, at dead of night,
laid by his list of vanquished foes, remembered Caterpillar
as the Queer Gladiator, who was skilled in the mysterious
art of symbolical fencing, which he could learn from no-
body.

The Prince thanked the Mandarin for the story, and said,
" The audacity of the little wretch Caterpillar, when he refers
to the question of cutting the throat of Mountain Shoulder
with a knife two feet long, is simply provoking. How happy
the Japanese giant would have been if he had only known
the real meaning of the problem in symbolical fencing ! "

Here another Mandarin, who had been watching for an
opportunity to amuse the Prince with a story of his own,
said, " Sire, it is not every one that can hope to become
happy like Maneloi by surmising the real meaning of the
professions of others."

" Who was Maneloi, good Mandarin ? " said the Prince.

The Mandarin told the story as follows : —

tljai Ija& Sfcten daks to it.

In the midst of the desert, on the confines of the Celestial
Empire, there was a capricious fairy, who built a city for
herself, with seven gates, and a palace in the centre with
a lofty tower. These seven gates were not on seven different
sides, but in a line from the outskirts of the city to the
palace of the fairy. ;£

So a person who wished to reach the palace had to pass
through* the seven gates one .after another. On all other
sides the city was so well guarded by fairy soldiers that, as
they said, not the winds themselves could enter unnoticed.

THE CITY THAT HAD SEVEN GATES. 51

This fairy once said to herself — "Everybody hears of
people that fall in love with fair women and seek them in
marriage. But nobody has yet heard of an ugly female being
courted by a man. That man who is prepared to lay down
his life for a woman with frightful appearance and manners
must, indeed, be counted a true lover. So let me see if such
a man exists on earth."

With this resolve she transformed herself into one of
the most hideous shapes imaginable. Her head was like
the head of a monstrous ape, with an additional eye on her
forehead. Her neck was as slender and twice as long as
that of a crane. Her waist was thick and round like a
drum. Her legs were thin like the legs of a spider, while
her feet had claws as big and sharp as the claws of a great
eagle. Her whole body was covered with scales like fish,
while bristles and feathers appeared scattered here and
there, including the face.

Her dress and ornaments were contrived to suit her
appearance. Reptiles of various shapes and sizes formed
her necklaces and garlands. A string of snails and crabs
alternately arranged formed her bracelet on each wrist, and
a huge adder, which coiled round her waist, arid whose
perpetual hisses filled the air, she called her girdle.
A great toad and a monstrous hedgehog were her
pets.

When she breathed she hissed like a great serpent ; and
when she spoke, she brayed, as her maids observed, like a
donkey that had received a severe beating.

When she had completed her metamorphosis, she
posted a goblin at each gate, with special instructions as to-
their duties, and said, " Now let my lover come and plead
his cause."

Of course all her maids assumed corresponding shapes,
and formed a little world of hideousness round their
E 2

52 THE TALES OF THE SIXTY MANDARINS.

frightful mistress, whom they called their Incomparable
Fairy Queen Adder-Girdle.

The fame of the Fairy Queen Adder-Girdle reached
the ends of the world. Many a valiant youth came to the
gate of the city to see her. To every one who thus came
she presented herself on the top of the tower in her palace,
and said, " Fair youth, if you really love me, come through
the seven gates, and kiss me on my third good eye."

Then she would take up the toad and the hedgehog and
kiss them, one after the other, saying, " So will I kiss the
youth that seeks my love."

But so soon as the youth scanned her person, heard her
voice, and observed her kissing her pets, he would turn his
back and fly, exclaiming, " Oh, what a frightful monster !
I would rather kiss a flaming torch than kiss such a being !
I should like to know who ever will love her ! "

The fairy, in the midst of her maids, would shout, " He
who for my love is born, will find me fair as summer morn.
When he has kissed my third good eye, for a second kiss
how he will sigh ! "

A man in the Celestial Empire, named Maneloi, who
had long heard of the fairy and her peculiarities, said to
himself, " Fairies, as a rule, are exceedingly beautiful ; but
this fairy is hideous in the extreme. Again, the allusion
she makes to the fact of her being fair as summer morn,
and to the kiss on her third eye, evidently means some
mystery which is yet to be unravelled ; so I must court her,
and see what will come of it."

Accordingly he presented himself at the gate of the city,
and said, " I love the Fairy Queen Adder-Girdle with all
my heart, and am prepared to lay down my life for her."

Instantly the fairy with her maids appeared on the
tower, and said, " If so, fair youth, come up and kiss me on
my third good eye."

THE CITY THAT HAD SEVEN GATES.

53

Maneloi essayed to pass the first gate.

Instantly he was addressed by the goblin in charge of it
in these words : — " You must make over some part of your
body as the fee for letting you pass this gate."

iUiIlli..

"THE GOBLIN TOOK HIS RIGHT LEG" (p. 54).

"Will nothing else satisfy you?" said Maneloi.

" No," said the goblin, resolutely.

Maneloi surmised that the goblin was simply acting in
obedience to instructions from his whimsical mistress, and
said, " If so, take one of my legs."

54 THE TALES OF THE SIXTY MANDARINS.

The goblin took his right leg, which he devoured on the
spot, and transported him to the second gate.

The goblin here made the same demand. Maneloi
gave him his left leg, which he disposed of like his brother
at the first gate, and Maneloi found himself at the third.
After gratifying the goblin here with one of his hands, and
the next three with his other hand, and his nose, and his
ears respectively, he found himself at the seventh or inner-
most gate, where a huge goblin observed, " Unless you
give up your heart you cannot pass this gate."

Maneloi, who conjectured rightly that this was the last
and the grandest test to which the whim of the fairy subjected
him, said, "You are welcome to take my lips, and my eyes,
and my life to boot, but not my heart."

"Why not your heart?" said the hideous goblin.

Maneloi said, " Ah, that is for the incomparable Fairy
Queen Adder-Girdle."

Just then he saw the Fairy Adder- Girdle with her maids
approaching him, saying, " Here I am, to receive your heart
that for me you have set apart ! "

Maneloi was shocked to some extent by her frightful
appearance. It seemed to him as though she was a
thousand times more hideous than when he first saw her
at the outskirts of the city. Again he conjectured rightly
that it was her final effort to be as hideous as practicable
before throwing off the guise she had assumed, and with
great self-command, said, " Fairy, may I kiss your third good
eye?"

" By all means," said she, bringing her frightful face near
his, as he had no legs to stand upon.

Maneloi kissed her on her third good eye. when she
turned at once into a fairy of surpassing beauty and
elegance, and he regained all his limbs and found himself
more youthful and vigorous than ever.

THE GIANT AND THE PHILOSOPHER. 55

The maids of the fairy also regained their former shapes
and danced round the happy couple. Maneloi sighed for
a kiss almost every second, and the good fairy gave it to
him as often, saying that Maneloi was about the only true
lover on earth.

Maneloi led a very happy life with his fairy wife in the
City with Seven Gates to it ; and when people wished to
express their admiration of a lover's attachment to his
mistress, they would say, "Why, he is as devoted as
Maneloi ! "

The Prince observed, " No doubt, the action of Maneloi
judged by itself is an extraordinary instance of self-devotion
in the cause of love. In this respect he was, indeed, unlike
a great many who would rather see a whole community
perish than sustain an injury themselves."

Another Mandarin remarked, "Sire, Maneloi was cer-
tainly unlike the philosopher Nee Wang, who doomed a
whole city to destruction at the hands of a giant named
Jimlac rather than himself fall a prey to his greed."

The Prince asked who Nee Wang was, and how he came
in contact with Jimlac.

The Mandarin told the story : — •

Jimlac attb
jltt

In the Peling Mountains, which is a range in the
Celestial Empire, there lived a giant named Jimlac, who
was remarkable for his truthfulness and honesty. At the
same time, he was very fond of eating men on New Year's
Day. At other times other animals formed his prey. Being

56 THE TALES OF THE SIXTY MANDARINS*

a very honest giant, he disdained breaking upon men at un-
awares, so he generally gave them notice in these terms :—
" Know ye, people of the Celestial Empire, New Year's Day
is approaching ; we abhor taking people by surprise ; so,
Yvhen we come round, all the liars that may be found in our
way will become our prey."

The last words of Jimlac's notice need explanation. He
never touched a man that was not an habitual liar. Every
liar of this kind he found out by some secret clue. So New
Year's Day in that part of the Celestial Empire became a
day of lamentation and woe, as so many people fell a prey
to the greed of Jimlac.

Therefore, on that day, everybody shut himself up in his
house, and the whole country presented a silent and melan-
choly aspect. This precaution of the people often enraged
Jimlac. But as he never battered a door that was closed,
he often returned without eating a single man.

One New Year's Day J imlac went through a great city
near the mountains, and finding every door shut, stood
opposite to a little house, and said, " The cat Jimlac is come
in request of his mouse ; let every inveterate liar in this house
come out to meet him."

The only inmate of the house was a philosopher, named
Nee Wang. He opened the door ajar, put out his spectacled
face in solemn style, and finding the giant there, trembled
from head to foot, saying, " Ah, Jimlac, my good fellow, is
it you ? "

Jimlac said, " Nee Wang, under the cloak of philosophy
and wisdom, I know you have told a great many lies in
your day ; so, throw off your philosophic guise, and fall a
prey to me."

Nee Wang said, "Jimlac, surely you will show some
consideration to men of learning. I have read all the
volumes in the Imperial Library but one. I shall have

THE GIANT AND THE PHILOSOPHER. 57

finished this one also by next New Year's Day. Till then
disturb me not."

Jimlac replied, " You are the only one that has fallen in
my way, and you know this is New Year's Day."

Thereupon the philosopher Nee Wang looked into the
calendar, and finding it to be New Year's Day, heaved forth
a deep sigh, and said to himself, " In spite of all that
philosophy and religion say, nobody knows for certain what
will become of us after death. It may be, there is nothing
like life after death. So we must endeavour to live as long
as we can. Again, of all nature's laws, the first is self-
preservation. In this respect, it will be well to remember
the story of the two peasants, Ting and Ming, who had to
stand for three days on the top of a slippery pole in the
midst of an inundated stream, and of whom Ting made
himself more secure and comfortable on the fourth day, by
throwing Ming into the stream, when he fell into a slumber
as he stood on the pole weary with watching and hunger.
I know this Jimlac is an inexorable fiend; and that the
people of this city are all extremely vigilant on this day.
Yet, if I do not devise some means of gratifying his greed,
I must fall a victim to him."

With this object in view, he first tapped at every door
in the street in which he lived, and when the inmates asked
who it was, said, " Ah me ! it is your friend Nee Wang in
distress ! "

When they opened the door, Jimlac, who followed the
philosopher, also entered the house, and ate up all the
habitual liars that might be found in the house.

In this manner, a great many houses had been entered
and a great many people eaten up, till, fortunately for the
people of the city, they came to the house of a hag, at
whose sight the giant himself was shocked — for she was so
hideous in appearance.

58 THE TALES OF THE SIXTY MANDARINS.

Before the giant could speak to her, the hag said, " Ah !
good Jimlac, how happy I am to see you ! You have till
now eaten men raw ; would you like to taste them roasted ?
I have some on the spit, and if you can give me a philoso-
pher to be cooked with them, you will have a dish that
you never tasted in your life."

" Here is one," said Jimlac, and twisting the neck of Nee
Wang gave his body to the hag.

This hag, who was a great sorceress, pretended to have
roasted it, and sprinkling over it a poisonous herb, known in
that part of the Celestial Empire as " Giants' Bane," gave it
to Jimlac, and he fell dead at her door after eating it.

The people of the city assembled round his carcass with
great joy, and praised the hag for her philanthropy. They
came to know that it was the selfishness of the treacherous
Nee Wang that had been the death of so many people that
day.

So they exclaimed, " Jimlac, fiend though he was, never
deceived us. But for Nee Wang, many of us who perished
should be living now. Fiendish honesty is, indeed, better
than philosophical deceit ! "

The Prince observed, " No doubt, the conduct of the
hag was, on the whole, commendable ; but for her the
whole city might have suffered through the treachery of the
man Nee Wang. It is, indeed, a wonder why he called him-
self a philosopher with so many frailties about him."

Here another Mandarin stood up, and said, " Sire, the
hag was instrumental in saving a great many people, even as
the man Dicklemar, in the story of the Boa-constrictor and
his Wife.

The Prince remarked, " Good Mandarin, not one of us
has ever heard the story, I am sure ; so let us share the
delight of knowing it with you."

THE BOA-CONSTRICTOR AND HIS WlFE. 59

The Mandarin, who was highly flattered by this remark,
related the story as follows : —

attb Ijis Wife.

In a mountain region in Manchuria there was a sorceress
named Dickima, who was so very wicked and whimsical
that she married every morning a husband, and in the
evening transformed him to some animal, as a toad or
chameleon, a hedgehog or porcupine, an elephant or a
rhinoceros. It was also written in the book of fate that
she should forget all her magic, and become an amiable
and accomplished young lady, so soon as someone of these
animals should seize her and swallow her piecemeal — the
animal also resuming thereafter the form of the fair youth,
her husband.

In this manner, many a poor youth had been inveigled
into matrimony with the sorceress and converted into some
hideous animal.

There was a clever young man named Dicklemar, who
lived in that neighbourhood, and who said to himself, <( It
is, indeed, deplorable that nobody has yet put an end to
the ravages of this woman on the young men in this region.
I must try to do so. I know what is written about the
sorceress in the book of fate. If I succeed I achieve three
great feats — I rescue a great many young men from the
wiles of Dickima ; I obtain an excellent wife ; I shall
become famous all over this country as the man that
subdued the wicked witch, Dickima. If I fail, I shall no
doubt be transformed to some hideous shape and continue
in it till death put an end to my misery."

So he presented himself before Dickima one morning,
while she was in quest of a husband, and said, "Fair

60 THE TALES OF THE SIXTY MANDARINS.

Dickima, I have been long in love with you. I know your
rules as to the period of living with a husband after
marrying him. I am prepared to sacrifice the rest of my
life for that one happy day which I shall be able to enjoy in
your company."

As Dickima had been in quest of a husband that
morning without finding one, she readily agreed to the
proposal of Dicklemar and proceeded to prepare for the
marriage.

Dicklemar said, " Sweet Dickima, when you have done
with me into what animal do you propose transforming
me?"

Dickima said, " Well, I am extremely kind and con-
siderate in that respect. I shall transform you into the
animal that you choose to be."

Dicklemar thanked her for her kindness and said, "If
so, will you be so good as to transform me into a great
boa-constrictor ? I wish to be that animal for the rest of
my life."

" Certainly I will," said Dickima.

So they were married at once. According to her wont
she treated her husband with great kindness, and when the
evening approached she said, " Now, good husband, pre-
pare for your fate."

Dicklemar said, "Alas, good Dickima, will you not
permit me to spend another day with you. How happy
have I been in your company to-day ! "

" Ah ! " said Dickima, " if I should show such lenity to
you, every one of my former husbands will claim the same
from me, then I shall have to marry every one of them
again, and grant him the indulgence ; so prepare for your
fate at once."

" Good Dickima," said Dicklemar, " can't you make an
exception in my case. Ah ! how I loved you within the

THE BOA-CONSTRICTOR AND HIS WlFE. 6 1

brief space I was your husband. Is there not a spark of
mercy in your bosom that can warm it to forbearance and
consideration ? "

" Not the slightest," said Dickima ; " when I make a rule
there is no exception to it at all ! "

On hearing this resolution of his amiable wife, poor
Dicklemar appeared to resign himself to his fate, and, with
tears in his eyes, said, " Good Dickima, in consideration of
my devotion to you, will you, at least, give me a kiss in my
transformed shape before bidding adieu to it ? "

Dickima said she would, and leading him to a wooded
valley between two mountains, pronounced a magic spell
and sprinkled some water over him. Instantly he became
a great boa-constrictor. According to her promise, Dickima
bent to kiss her husband in his hideous metamorphosis,
when he seized her by the lips and coiled round her -at once
with frightful hisses.

Poor Dickima could not help herself, as her lips were so
seized as to prevent her from moving them to pronounce
the formula with which she could disengage herself from
the monster. So the boa-constrictor reduced her frame
to a great many pieces, and swallowed them one after
another.

The Manchur historian, who has handed down to posterity
the story of the Boa-constrictor and his Wife, says that, as
often as the monster put a piece of her body into his mouth,
he hissed forth the query, " Well, piece of my beloved wife,
Dickima, have you got anything to say, now that you are
going down to my stomach ? " That every piece but the
last went in silently ; that this last, which was her tongue,
replied, "Good husband Dicklemar, the only part of a woman
that is never-ending is her tongue ; so your stomach cannot
digest me !"

When the serpent had swallowed this^ also, he assumed

62 THE TALES OF THE SIXTY MANDARINS.

his former shape, and the sorceress, Dickima, stood before
him, in the form of an amiable young lady.

Dicklemar embraced his wife tenderly, and the two
went home, and lived together thenceforth in such amity and
love 4that everybody called them the happiest couple in the
country. Dickima would often look at her husband and
smile, and when he asked for the reason, would reply, " Ah,
good husband, some women have whims, which, if uncon-
trolled, will lead them to marry a husband every day, and
turn him into a monster in the evening ! "

As the remark was based on her own life prior to his
metamorphosis, Dicklemar would smile at it, and say, " Ah,
good wife, I am so happy to see you are so very different
from your former self! What a comfort it would be to
many a husband on earth to be able to say so ! "

The Prince thanked the Mandarin for the story, and
said, " Dickima was a sorceress ; but Dicxlemar was
evidently in utter ignorance of the art, yet he triumphed
over her. Wickedness often proves its ov n ruin ! "

Another Mandarin remarked, "Sire, innocence often
triumphs over wickedness, even as the milkmaid Maralana
triumphed over the Dragon, which she boiled to death in
her pail."

The Prince said, " Why, good Mandarin, she must have
been a wonderful milkmaid, indeed, to have boiled a dragon
to death. Do permit us to make her acquaintance."

The Mandarin was highly pleased to hear this good-
humoured request of the Prince, and proceeded to narrate
the story as follows : —

Jftilkmaiir Jltaralana Uotltfi
Dragon in

In the island of Sagalean there was a Dragon, which had
the remarkable power of hearing the cries of children at a
great distance. If a boy or a girl cried, the Dragon was
there, saying, " I am here ; you can cry no more."

Suiting the action to the word, it would carry off its
victim to its cave, and eat it little by little, saying, " A
crying child is a dying child in my opinion. I will show it
no mercy."

In this manner, a great many of the children in the
neighbourhood had been carried off by it, as every one of
them cried at some time or other, forgetting the Dragon.

There was a little milkmaid, named Maralana, who was
a very quiet girl. She seldom spoke loud. People said she
had not cried even once in her life.

The Dragon saw her one day, and said to itself, " Ah,
what a nice looking girl this Maralana is ! I must have her
for dinner some day. But she would never cry, and I
cannot get at a girl that will not"

Then the Dragon took the form of a pretty little doll,
and was dancing in the way of Maralana.

She went to take hold of it ; but, just as she was going
to seize it, the doll disappeared. Maralana felt as though
she could cry at this disappointment, but, remembering the
Dragon, kept quiet.

The next day, the Dragon assumed the form of a nice
piece of cake, in a tempting little dish, and lay in the way
of Maralana.

She went to take it. Just then the cake and the dish
disappeared. Maralana felt as though she could cry at

64

THE TALES OF THE SIXTY MANDARINS.

this disappointment, but, remembering the Dragon, kept
quiet.

The next day, again, the Dragon stood in the way of
Maralana in the form of a beautiful bouquet. But she took
no notice of it, remembering the doll and the cake that had
deceived her.

^fe|li|ts;/-
'lilii

"THE DRAGON SAW HER ONE DAY" (/> 63).

The Dragon was in despair ; so it stood in the way of
Maralana in the form of a little girl, while she was carrying
her pail full of milk, and said, " Good sister Maralana, will
you give me a draught of milk ? I feel so thirsty ! "

Maralana asked her to come near to have the milk.

The little girl cunningly upset the pail as Maralana lifted
it up to give her a draught, and all the milk flowed out
on the ground.

Maralana stood silently gazing on the scene.

How THE MILKMAID BOILED THE DRAGON. 65

The little girl said, "Ah, sister Maralana, I am so sorry
that the pail has been upset. At the same time, I wonder
you do not cry even now ! "

Maralana said, " Ah, little sister, never mind the milk.
I am so sorry the pail was upset before you could slake
your thirst. There is no use of crying over it, losing courage,
like a silly girl."

" Ah," said the little girl, " what is courage, good sister
Maralana ? "

"Why," said Maralana, "it is that which has kept me so
long from the Dragon. If once I had lost it, and cried, I
should have been devoured by it long ere this."

The Dragon, which was in the form of a little girl, said
to itself, " Now, so long as Maralana keeps in her possession
this thing called courage, I shall not be able to have her.
First, let me therefore find it out. I am also curious to
know what it is made of."

Maralana had been listening with a keen ear to the
words which the little girl had whispered to herself, and
concluded she was the Dragon in that guise. So, when
the Dragon requested her to show what courage was, she
said she couldn't do so unless she got into her pail.

So the Dragon got into the pail, and Maralana closed the
lid tightly.

" Why do you close the lid so tightly, sister Maralana ? "
said the Dragon.

" Else, you will not be able to see courage," said
Maralana.

"If so," said the Dragon, "close the lid, and put apiece
of rock over it, that there may be no chance of its escaping
at all, as I am eager to catch it at once.1'

"Very good," said Maralana, adopting the valuable
suggestion at once. Then she lighted a fire, and put the
pail over it.

66 THE TALES OF THE SIXTY MANDARINS.

Some time after, the Dragon said, " Sister Maralana, I
feel it hot"

Maralana said, " Then it is near."

A while after, the Dragon said, " I feel it very hot."

Maralana said, " So it has come nearer."

" Maralana/' said the Dragon, " I assure you I cannot
stay a moment longer within this pail."

" Hold hard, good sister, it has entered the pail," said
Maralana.

Soon after, the Dragon exclaimed, " I am dying, good
sister Maralana ! Ah, how have you been able to keep this
thing with you, that is killing hot ? "

"Rather it is that which kept me, and which kills you
now," said Maralana, as the last groans of the monster died
on her ears.

To this day, whenever their children cry, the mothers in
the place say, " Now, would you boil the Dragon in the
pail, or let it eat you ? "

The Prince remarked, " Indeed, Maralana was a wonder-
ful milkmaid ; but it is not every milkmaid that gets a
dragon to be boiled to death in her pail in that style."
Thereupon, another Mandarin stood up and said, " Sire, it
is not every milkmaid that gets a dragon to boil, even as
it is not every one that converts a stone into a throne, as
Sultan Dinwar Mandeel did."

The Prince asked the Mandarin to be so good as to
relate the story, and the Mandarin complied with his
request as follows :—

67

Bittfoar

In a country named Dabulistan, there was a farmer
named Baman, who was a distant cousin of the Sultan of
the country. But, as he was poor, he kept aloof from his
royal relative, attending to his own calling of cultivating his
paternal acre. The Sultan had often expressed a desire to
see his cousin. But the cousin was a philosopher, so he as
often sent him this reply : — " The honey that bees collect
often goes to the share of men; similarly, the wealth
hoarded by misers goes to the share of spendthrifts.
Whereas, the boa-constrictor, that cannot move from the
place where nature had first deposited it, liveth comfortably,
although its frame is so long and bulky. Having long con-
sidered the characteristics of these, I have betaken myself to
a life of solitary meditation. So I ask none for anything
that I may not have. I am not sorry I have it not. Should
others ask me to see them, I do not decline. I neither
exult nor grieve to excess in connection with any subject."

The Sultan, who had the highest respect for the life and
character of his cousin, therefore contented himself, saying,
"There will be a day when we shall have to meet each
other on business. Till then, good cousin, please yourself."

Baman had an only son, named Dinwar, whom he edu-
cated with great care. Dinwar was more ambitious than his
father. He would often assemble a number of other youths of
his age in the village, and speak to them about the govern-
ment of kingdoms. They would seat him on a rock in a
wood near their village, call the rock a throne, the wood a
kingdom, himself being their Sultan, and themselves his
ministers and subjects.

On such occasions Dinwar- would often ask the youth
that played the part of his Grand Vizier, " Have they come?"
F 2

68 THE TALES OF THE SIXTY MANDARINS.

The Grand Vizier would reply, " Sire, the elephant and
the men will soon enter the village, and your Majesty ride
out in state towards the capital of the Sultan."

This conversation was sportive — Dinwar fancying that
some day an elephant from the Sultan would come and take
him to Court, and the Grand Vizier giving an appropriate
reply.

The good farmer Baman would often go to the wood
with his wife, and entertain her with the spectacle from a
distance. The fond mother on such occasions would
invariably exclaim, " Ah ! Dinwar has such princely dignity
about him when he sits on the rock throne, that I wish the
rock had been transformed into a real throne, the wood
into a real kingdom, and the boys into real ministers and
subjects ! "

Baman would reply, " Good wife, such aspirations are
unbecoming in people of our position. The hedgehog
cannot hope to leap from precipice to precipice like the
mountain goat. But should it please heaven that Dinwar
should one day be a king, why he will be one."

One day, while the youth and his companions were
playing in the wood as usual, an elephant with a rider in a
hovvdah on it approached the village. It was a most un-
usual sight, so the villagers flocked round the elephant, and
demanded what the rider wanted. He replied, " Let us
know the direction in which the house of Farmer Baman
is."

Everybody in the village knew the house, so they led
him at once to it. Instantly the rider descended, and
addressed Farmer Baman as follows : —

" Sire, I have been directed by the Sultan to bring your
son to the capital this instant."

Baman, with his wife, who was eager to know what the
Sultan wanted Dinwar for, led the rider on the elephant to

THE HISTORY OF SULTAN DINWAR MAN D EEL. 69

the wood, where his son was playing with his companions,
as usual.

The elephant went in sight of Dinwar and his com-
panions, just as the former asked his Grand Vizier the usual
query, " Have they come? "

So the Grand Vizier replied, " Sire, after all they have

"SALUTING THE MOCK SULTAN.

The rider saluting the mock Sultan, said, " Sire, the
Sultan wishes to see you this moment at Court."

Dinwar replied, " Sultans are not like ordinary people.
They cannot leave their kingdoms when they like ; let me
therefore first appoint a council of regency to look after the
affairs of my kingdom."

So a council of regency was appointed, and Sultan
Dinwar, with his Grand Vizier, got into the howdah on
the elephant, while his parents and the other inhabitants
of the village watched his movements with pleasurable
surprise.

70 THE TALES OF THE SIXTY MANDARINS.

When Dinwar arrived at the capital the Sultan received
him with great attention, and was extremely pleased to hear
from his messages of the council of regency, which he had
appointed before starting.

The Sultan assembled the chief officers and dignitaries
of his Court around him, and gave Dinwar these three
questions to answer : (i) Why should not people be
made to pay taxes whenever the Sultan pleases ? (2)
Is mercy compatible with justice ? (3) How should friends
agree ?

Dinwar, after some consideration, replied : (i) Trees
have their seasons to bear fruit ; even so, people have their
seasons to pay taxes. (2) Just as the softest and sweetest
flowers may blossom on trees with the hardest trunks,
mercy may blossom on the branches of the strictest
justice. (3) Friends should agree to agree as well as
disagree.

" How many eyes and arms has a Sultan ? " said his
Majesty.

Dinwar, after some consideration, replied —

"As many eyes as he has judges, and as many arms as
he has soldiers."

The Sultan was delighted to hear these answers which
Dinwar gave, so he said—

" You were, till now, called the Sultan of some wood
near your village. We now bestow on you the title Sultan
Mandeel, or Sultan of the Universe."

Then, turning to his ministers, courtiers, and subjects
assembled before him, his Majesty said —

" We have this day adopted Dinwar, or, as we would
call him, Sultan Dinwar Mandeel, son of our good cousin
Baman, as our son. The Prince shall henceforth be
treated with the respect due to the heir-apparent to the
throne."

THE HISTORY OF SULTAN DIN WAR M AND EEL. 71

The people and the whole court of the Sultan rejoiced
to hear of the adoption of Sultan Dinwar Mandeel.

Baman and his wife soon arrived at the capital, the
wife observing —

"After all, Dinwar has converted his stone into a throne,
indeed ! "

While the husband replied, " Good wife, heaven had
so willed it, and so it has been."

The Sultan, addressing Baman, said, " Ah, good cousin
Baman, we have met after all on business, have we not ? "

Baman gave no reply, for he could hardly find terms
for it.

Of course, Sultan Dinwar, or Sultan Dinwar Mandeel,
as his adoptive father called him, gave up asking any more
" Have they come ? " as they had actually come and taken
him away to fill the throne for which he had been intended
by heaven.

The story goes to say that in course of time Sultan
Dinwar Mandeel ascended the throne, with his boy Prime
Minister for his Grand Vizier, and that the two brought
the country to such a prosperous condition that the reign
of Sultan Dinwar Mandeel passed into a by-word for a
period of perfect peace, prosperity, and happiness.

The Prince remarked, " Dinwar seems to have been
born with the germs of greatness in him."

Another Mandarin, who was eager to contribute to the
amusement of the Prince, said, " Sire, if not, the Sultan
who adopted him must have been disappointed even as the
Virgin from Velayet was in her husband, who set about
imitating the institutions of her country."

The Prince asked who the Virgin from Velayet was.

The Mandarin told the story of

Utrgitt fr0nt

There was a Sultan of Damascus, who had long heard
of the freedom and enlightenment of the people of a certain
country in the West called Velayet. He said to himself,
"Why should not my people enjoy the same freedom?
Why should they not be as enlightened as the people of
Velayet ? The person that exercises the greatest influence
on a man, for good or evil, is his wife. This is true of
every man — be he prince or peasant. I am young ; so, if
I marry an enlightened virgin of this country — Velayet —
she will exercise over me such a wholesome influence as
will be highly beneficial to my people."

With this resolve, the Sultan sent for a slave dealer in
his capital, and said, " Can you get a fair and accomplished
virgin from Velayet for me? — I wish to make her my
Queen."

The slave dealer went out, saying he would try, and re-
turned some months after with a young lady of rare beauty
and accomplishments, riding on a milk-white mare, and said to
his Majesty, " Sire, I went to the country of this lady, which
is in the far West, and had, first of all, to conceal my occu-
pation, for such a thing as slavery neither exists, nor is
tolerated, in that land. The people of the country generally
advertise for everything they want. If a man wants a wife,
he may advertise for her also, if he chooses to do so. So,
I advertised for a wife for your Majesty. This lady sent
me a reply, and finding her every way suited to be the
Sultana of this kingdom, I have conducted her to your
capital"

The Sultan was very glad to see the Virgin from Velayet.
He married her with great pomp, and the royal couple spent
their honeymoon together in the summer palace.

THE VIRGIN FROM VELAYET. 73

From the moment the lady from . Velayet became the
Queen of the Sultan, she proved extremely attentive to his
interests. His Majesty was so deeply impressed with her
sound sense and highly useful and elegant attainments, that
he requested her to describe to him in detail all the insti-
tutions of her country. She did so. The Sultan was ex-
tremely delighted with everything he heard. So he said,
'• My dear Sultana, I wish to adopt a great many of these
institutions that you have detailed. How shall I proceed?"

The Sultana replied, " Sire, you must, first of all, abolish
slavery in your dominions, and make it a crime under all
circumstances ; for slavery may be said to be the first great
curse of mankind."

The Sultan abolished slavery throughout his dominions
that very day.

The Sultana said, " Sire, make a rule that every man that
chooses to marry shall not take more than one wife ; for
man can have but a single partner in life."

His Majesty ruled that henceforth all persons marrying
more than one wife should be severely punished.

The Sultana said, " Sire, make a rule that no man shall
remain in the country, who is an able-bodied idler, and
acquires not sufficient means of sustenance for himself and
for those that must depend on him for aid."

His Majesty at once banished all idlers from his
dominions, and the remaining people bestirred themselves
to such a degree that everywhere prosperity began to smile.

"Sire," said the Sultana, ''let people speak out what
they have to say, whether in favour of your Majesty and
your ministers or against you all ; for no Sultan can b,e safe
that knows not the hearts of his subjects in full."

His Majesty granted perfect liberty of speech to all his
subjects, and soon had the satisfaction of doing and undoing
a great many things for their welfare.

7t THE TALES OF THE SIXTY MANDARINS.

The Sultana said, "Sire, let every man be tried by a
body of men of about the same condition in life ; for this
mode of trying him will secure perfect justice to the person
accused."

His Majesty proclaimed such a form of trial throughout
his dominions. ,

In this manner, in course of time, the Sultan, guided by
his wise Sultana, introduced a great many useful institutions,
undoing some that were positively pernicious in their
character; so that all the arts of civilised life began to
flourish in the country.

Then the Sultan said, " My dear Sultana, you spoke to
me of the great assembly in your country of all the wise men
in it ; shall we not have one of the kind here ? Of course,
in your country, the members of this body, as you said,
appear to spend a great part of their time in factious decla-
mations and hair-splitting harangues. Again, there appear
to be two parties in the body, one saying ' no ' to every
'yes' of the other, out of sheer party spirit and jealousy.
When one party gets into power, the other goes about the
country inflaming the hearts of the people against their
successful rivals till they pull them down and step into their
place. But we can effectively guard against these evils."

The Sultana, who took great interest in the welfare of
her subjects, and who was eager to see them enjoy all the
great benefits — social and political — which people in Velayet
had secured to themselves, requested to be informed about
the manner in which his Majesty proposed guarding against
the evils he had enumerated.

His Majesty replied, " Why, my dear Sultana, we wih
make this rule and enforce it vigorously— that any member
who talks for more than five minutes, or indulges in factious
discourse, should be instantly led to execution ! "

The Sultana smiled at these words of his Majesty.

THE VIRGIN FROM VELAYET. 75

The Sultan asked why she smiled.

Her Majesty replied, " In spite of the numerous
improvements your Majesty has introduced into your
country, your despotic instincts remain unaltered. Of what
avail will it be to form an assembly of all the wise people in
your country, if every member that talks for more than five
minutes is to be led to instant execution ? At that rate, in
the course of a few hours, not a member will be left in the
assembly.

The Sultan perceived the disappointment of the Sultana,
and remarked that he was himself surprised at what he
had said, and that he deserved to be led to execution for it
instantaneously.

" There, again, Sire ! " exclaimed the sadly disappointed
Sultana, " The instincts are the same whether they point to
your Majesty's self or subjects. Freedom is a plant which
grows by nature in the hearts of some races and their
sovereigns. The germs of it can seldom sprout and take
root in soils unaccustomed to their culture ! "

The Prince remarked, "Evidently, the Virgin from
Velayet was taken by surprise by the last outburst of the
Sultan's despotic instincts."

Here another Mandarin, who was eager to tell the
Prince a story of his own, observed, " Sire, the remark of
the Sultan about punishing the wise men of the assembly,
indeed, took the Virgin from Velayet by surprise, even as
the Aerial Musician astonished the orphan youth, Chucker."

The Prince asked the Mandarin to relate the story, and
he proceeded with it as follows, thanking the Prince for
thus giving him an opportunity of contributing to his amuse-
ment : —

t\jt

In the province of Fergana, there was an orphan youth
named Chucker, who spent his time in going round the
village in which he lived and doing the biddings of the boys
and girls in it. If a boy was going to school, Chucker
carried his satchel and slate for him.

If a peasant girl was taking her father's breakfast to the

"CHUCKER INSTANTLY GAVE KIM A HELPING HAND."

fields, Chucker would run up to her, saying, " Fair maid, let
me carry the basket for you," and did so.

If a shop-boy was struggling under a great load of
goods which his master had given him for a customer,
Chucker instantly gave him a helping hand, saying, "Let
me do myself the pleasure of relieving you."

If a girl was asked by her mother to fetch some grass
for the calf, and went out with basket and scythe, Chucker

THE STORY OF THE AERIAL MUSICIAN. 77

would accost her with these words : — " Ah, fair maid, my
hands tell me that they were made for work ! '; and do the
work for her.

As the schoolmaster of the village observed, Chucker
was an indispensable companion of the children in all their
sports and amusements. At leap-frog, he lent every one
his shoulders ; at hide and seek, he was invariably blind-
folded ; at Jack o' lantern, he carried the light ; at monkey
on the tree, he was the tree ; at dummy horse, he was the
groom.

He never stayed for a moment at any one place ; but,
as the children said, he was here, he was there, and he was
everywhere, at one and the same time — with such wonderful
rapidity did he regulate his movements.

As to his personal comforts, he was the best fed, the
best clothed, and the best lodged in the village. Having no
house of his own, he made everybody's his, and ate where
he chose, as hunger called, and slept where he chose, as
sleep overtook him. Some, therefore, called him the son
of the village, and some, the son-in-law. Thus Chucker was
at everybody's door, in everybody's way, doing everybody's
pleasure, and seeking everybody's favour. So no wonder
Chucker became a great favourite with the boys and girls of
the village — so much so, that they often said, " We can do
without ourselves, but not without Chucker."

Again, Chucker had a strange prejudice against wedded
life. He often remarked, " I see so many husbands and
wives constantly quarrelling in the village, that I am led
to conclude that, if I should get a wife, I shall have to
prepare to fight it out with her almost every second of my
life. Further, I cannot be so free then as I am at
present."

One day the boys and girls of the village said, " Chucker
has long been our faithful companion. He has a strange

78 THE TALES OF THE SIXTY MANDARINS.

prejudice against being married ; so let us content ourselves
by celebrating his marriage in sport."

Accordingly, they invited him to go to the banks of a
river close by. Chucker said, " If you will put a girl by
my side, and call her a wife " — he feared to say my wife —
"even though in sport, I will scream and run away."

The children promised not to do so.

They took him to the banks of the river, and on the
sands, in the pleasant moonlight, celebrated his marriage,
with a great quantity of cake and fruit, to which full justice
was done. The children danced round him, saying,
" Chucker, what says your wife ? "

As often at they asked him the question, a voice in the
air, which seemed to accompany a lute, sang in response,
" His wife will see him, sure, to-night, when you should all
be out of sight."

The children were alarmed ; so they exclaimed, " Ah,
who is the Aerial Musician ! " and ran away from the
place, with Chucker, who, of course, joined them in the
flight.

When the elders of the village heard about the Aerial
Musician, they said, " Surely, some spirit has taken a fancy
for the youth Chucker, and may visit him ere long ! "

Chucker trembled when he heard their words, and said,
" Whoever the spirit may be, I hope she does not want to
marry me, when she actually comes to visit me ! "

After all, Chucker found a bed for the night and crept
into it. It was his wont to sleep at once. But on this
occasion he found a strange fidgetiness coming over him.
While he was endeavouring to free himself from it, he heard
the same sweet voice in the air that had been heard in the
river. While he was wondering who the Aerial Musician
was, a fairy with a lute in one hand and a golden plate
with a cover of brocade in the other, descended — Chucker

THE STORY OF THE AERIAL MUSICIAN. 79

knew not whence — and said, " I am Little Dill, your wife,
and here is your supper ! "

Chucker, who was overcome by surprise and sorrow,
said, " I want no supper, I want no wife ; if you will leave
me to myself, I shall be thankful all my life."

Scarcely had he finished speaking, when the fairy gave
him such a shaking, that he thought he would fall to pieces.
So he said, sobbing, "Ah, Little Dill, what is your will?"

The fairy replied, " Acknowledge me as your wife first,
and then I will speak to you further."

Chucker sobbed forth, " But I never married you."

The fairy said, " Ah, you did ! "

Chucker said, " We simply played at a children's
wedding."

The fairy replied, "Ah, you can't trifle with matrimony
like that. It is a law of Fairy Land, that when children
play at husband and wife they should be such for life.
But when a youth is married without a bride, to give him
a fairy is our pride. You were married without a wife, and
I have been made your partner in life. To shun me no\v
will be in vain ; love me, if you would wake again ! "

Poor Chucker could not help taking Little Dill, the
Aerial Musician, for his wife.

The next morning, the children were astonished to see
Chucker, with his wife, going about the village in quest of a
house ; for he could no more eat where he chose, nor sleep
where he might find a bed. The children asked him for
an account of all that had happened.

He did so, and concluded as follows : — "I shall be
happy to join you in future at hide and seek, or dummy
horse, or Jack o' lantern, or monkey on the tree ; but never
at a wedding, though in sport."

"Why not? " said the children, laughingly.

Poor Chucker gave this plaintive reply, "He that plav?

8o THE TALES OF THE SIXTY MANDARINS.

at man and wife is sure to have a partner in life ; if he would
be free from care, let him of that game beware ! "

The Prince .said, " Poor Chucker is, indeed, an object
of pity, for he had to accept the fairy for his wife, in spite
of his prejudices against a married life."

Another Mandarin remarked, " Sire, a man may find
himself a husband while he had been fondly fancying he
was not one, even as the Sultan, who was under the sway
of the Genius of Adversity, while all the while he imagined
he was not."

The Prince said, " Good Mandarin, let us hear the
story of the Sultan, who was seized by the Genius of
Adversity."

The Mandarin told the story as follows : —

Sultan antr t\}t (Sitting of

There was a Sultan in Persia, who, from the cradle to
the throne, knew not what Adversity was. After ascending
the throne, he had such a prosperous reign that there was
no occasion whatever to know it.

So one day he said to himself, " Ah ! people often speak
of Ill-fortune, Adversity, Reverses, and such other things;
but I have not seen one of these. Perhaps the genii
that preside over them are afraid of me."

Scarcely had he finished his speech, when a Genius, with
flapping wings, descended from the skies and addressed
the Sultan as follows : —

"Your Majesty fancies that you are exempt from my
power — for know, I am the Genius of Adversity — but it
is a great mistake. If I choose, I can take hold of your
Majesty at any time I like."

THE SULTAN AND THE GENIUS. 81

The Sultan said, " If so, appoint a day when you would
exercise your influence over me."

The Genius said, " The Ramazan is fast approaching.
On the last day of the month, when you are in the midst of
your courtiers, surrounded by all the might and magnifi-
cence of your exalted position, I shall seize you."

The Sultan said, " How long will you keep me in your
power ? "

" Say for a hundred twinkles of the eye," replied the
Genius.

" Agreed," said the Sultan.

The Ramazan came.

As the last day of the month approached, his Majesty
assembled all his ministers and generals, and giving them an
account of his conversation with the Genius, concluded as
follows : —

" So you must take special care that the Genius does not
get into the palace by some unguarded opening. You have
ever evinced the greatest fidelity to my cause. In this
instance, I trust you will prove it more than ever."

The ministers and generals instantly set about fortifying
the city on all sides. The palace of the Sultan, especially,
was surrounded by ramparts, with buttresses and bastions,
from which sentinels watched without winking. The whole
edifice was covered by a gigantic net of steel which pro-
tected it like the shell of an egg ; and the Sultan shut
himself up in its inmost, recesses, where, as some of
his courtiers observed, not a breath of wind could enter
unnoticed.

On the day mentioned by the Genius, the Sultan,
accoutred in mail, with his scimitar by his side, sat on his
throne, surrounded by his ministers and generals, who were
all similarly equipped. The moment when the Genius said
he would seize his Majesty was very near,
Q

82 THE TALES OF THE SIXTY MANDARINS.

Just then, one of the courtiers said, " Sire, we have taken
every precaution against the entrance of the Genius into the
palace. If, in spite of all our vigilance, he should succeed,
by some superhuman device, in making his way into the
edifice, he will no doubt repair to this hall, where your
Majesty generally gives audience to your courtiers and
subjects. So I suggest that your Majesty at once leave this
place, and hide somewhere in the inner apartments-
aye, in such a spot as you may be never expected to
occupy."

The whole Court applauded the suggestion ; so his
Majesty went in.

The Sultana, who was equally anxious about his safety,
at once asked an old female slave, in whom she had great
confidence, where his Majesty could hide without raising in
the mind of a stranger the slightest suspicion as to the
exact place of his concealment.

The slave replied, " Madam, his Majesty has been
known to go into every part of the palace in your company.
There is but one nook in it where he has not been. If per-
mitted, I shall point it out."

" Do," said the Sultan, in a hurry.

The slave pointed to a sewer under the ground, which
had long been shut up.

Instantly his Majesty crept into it, ordering his chamber-
lains to keep the bath ready that he might go to it at once,
after emerging from the hole. The stench within was in-
sufferable, yet his Majesty made a shift to count the hundred
twinkles of the eye, which the Genius had specified as the
period of his sway, and then came out.

After bathing and dressing again, the Sultan went to the
hall of audience, where his courtiers received him with
loud shouts of applause, for having thus eluded the Genius
of Adversity.

THE SULTAN AND THE GENIUS. 83

His Majesty addressed them as follows, after the tumult-
uous uproar caused by their shouts had subsided : —

" We have after all conquered the Genius of Adversity.
He could not seize us during the stipulated period of time.
Of course, we owe this victory to your vigilance. Well
may the Sultan that has such ministers and generals around
him, exclaim — I am proof against the machinations of all
adversaries."

Then his Majesty distributed among his courtiers shawls,
turbans, and robes of inestimable value, in recognition of
their meritorious services.

When every one of them had received his reward, the
Sultan, according to his wont on such occasions, said,
" Should there be any among you whom, by oversight, we
have not duly rewarded, let him step forth."

Instantly, the ceiling of the hall of audience opened, and
while the courtiers stood wondering at it, the Genius of
Adversity descended through the opening with flapping
wings, and said, " O, Sultan, where is my reward ? "

His Majesty was astonished to see the Genius there, and
much more to hear his words,

So he said, " You are almost the only person within my
knowledge who has ever claimed the reward due to success
after having suffered an ignominious defeat."

The Genius, who appeared to have been roused by this
remark of his Majesty, said, "Ah, you are about the only
person in my knowledge that would not acknowledge
defeat when it has been actually inflicted on him ! "

The Sultan said, " Prove it."

" Ah," said the Genius, " if I had not seized him, how
would the Sultan of this great kingdom have hidden
himself in a sewer and counted a hundred twinkles of the
eye therein ! "

" Enough ! " said the Sultan, bowing his head low

84 THE TALES OF THE SIXTY MANDARINS.

" the Genius of Adversity may seize a man in his very
endeavours to avoid it ! "

The Genius left the hall promising to return whenever
his Majesty should require his services. But as his Majesty
took care not to see him again, or wish for his company, he
never met him thereafter.

The Prince observed, " No doubt great credit is due to
the courtiers of the Sultan for having guarded him with such
vigilance, although the Genius contrived to outwit them."

Another Mandarin said, " Sire, their endeavours were
after all, in vain, even as the endeavours of the misers of
Balk to preserve the famous Book on Alchymy."

The Prince asked the Mandarin to tell the story, and
the Mandarin did so in the following manner : —

1600k 0n

In the great library at Balk there was a quarter known as
the Misers' Corner. In this there were a great many books
on alchymy.

The people who chiefly resorted to this part of the
library were misers, who, being ever eager to enhance
their wealth, constantly turned up the pages of the volumes,
in expectation of alighting on some recipe for converting
baser metals into gold.

Of all the books thus stored up on the subject there was
one which was considered of great antiquity. It had been
composed many thousands of years before by a magician and
philosopher, who was born in Ethiopia, who studied in Egypt,
and, after travelling throughout the then-known world, came
to Balk, where he embraced the religion of Zartusht, and
settled down with his disciples.

THE FAMOUS BOOK ON ALCHYMY. 85

In the course of his extensive researches, almost into
every branch of knowledge, he collected the materials for his
great work, and wrote it down in three parts.

The first part treated of various methods for making
gold by the aid of appliances in the vegetable kingdom.

In the second, the great philosopher described the'
properties' of various animals, by whose aid the same end
might be accomplished.

In the third, he detailed a number of minerals by
contact with which the same result would necessarily follow.

This volume, by special orders of the High Priest of
Balk, was kept locked up in a great iron chest. From times
of remote antiquity a fabulous sum was fixed as the fee for
taking out a copy of the volume. The only one who paid
the enormous fee and took a copy was a king of ancient
days named Croesus.

The iron chest was guarded by a body of soldiers with
drawn scimitars. The misers who flocked to that part of
the library were not allowed to go near the chest. But
their avidity to do something in connection with it was so
great, that they strove to touch it at least with their fingers.

A special fee was levied on this, at the rate of a silver
piece per finger ; if a miser paid two pieces of silver, he
could touch it with two fingers; if three, with thref
fingers, and so on.

This quaint mode of levying the fees was a precaution
against the speedy wearing out of the iron chest — for so
many misers came to touch it, from time to time, that there
was a visible diminution in its bulk by constant contact with
the millions of misers' fingers passing over it.

The librarians and other officers, who witnessed the fees
paid by the misers, would exclaim, " To be sure, this is the
only kind of fee that they ever paid in their lives ! " It became
a saying among the wag* in the city, that, if a person wished

86 THE TALES OF THE SIXTY MANDARINS.

to see all the denizens of miserdom, he ought to go and
watch them as they paid their fees to touch the iron
chest.

After all, an army of Arabs laid siege to the city, and
took it by storm. After giving up the whole city to
plunder, they entered the library, and at once doomed it to
destruction. The Arab General, who was deputed to look
to the work of annihilating the library, stalked in barbarian
grandeur through the long rooms and corridors.

His followers pointed to the grand collections of books
on every branch of human knowledge, which were arranged
on all sides, and concluded with the remark, " These works
may be divided into two classes — those opposed to the
Koran, and those that contain things already revealed in it."

The General replied, " The first class of books must go
to the flames, because they are against the Koran; the
second must share the same fate, because they are contained
in it. The first are heretical, and the second irrelevant."

After the destruction of the rest of the library, they came
to the misers' quarter. Instantly, all the misers of Balk)
who had assembled to protect the iron chest that contained
the famous Book on Alchymy, exclaimed with one voice,
" The iron chest is our ark ; it contains our covenant with
Mammon; we will defend it to the last man."

Two haggard Jews among them, who were but eyes,
bones, and skin, stood, one on each side of the chest,
exclaiming, " We are the cherubim ; who will take the ark
from us ? "

The Arab General paused, and asked for an explanation
of the scene before him.

When his followers explained it, he exclaimed, " Ah, the
iron chest is the Kebla of these men ; so they are deter-
mined to stand by it ! "

Here the misers, with one voice, said, " We will give

THE FAMOUS BOOK ON ALCHYMY. 87

you the amount of wealth you would name, if you will but
save this volume from the flames/'

The General said, " On that condition, the volume may
be permitted to exist"

Instantly the misers held a conference. For a long
time they could not decide as to the sum that each was to
subscribe, to make up the whole amount.

Then the question arose as to which of them was to be
the custodian of the volume. After all, they came to a
settlement on these points, and each went home to bring
his share of the money.

On the way, each thought over the matter again, and
came to the conclusion that the directions in the book
might, for aught he knew, be genuine or spurious — so he
had better not pay the money.

As the misers did not return with the money, the Arab
General threw the iron chest, with its invaluable contents, into
the flames. Such of the misers as lingered in the corner
paid the final obsequies to the chest, by clinging to it
tenaciously to the last ; and the Arab soldiers had to cast
them out, one by one, by sheer force, and then proceed
with the work of final destruction.

The misers who had gone home did not escape with
their wealth, as they had fondly imagined. The Arab
soldiers followed them at a distance, and so soon as they
recognised their houses, they broke into them, and
carried off the wealth of the misers, who, in this style, not
only failed to ransom the chest, but lost the treasures which
they had valued more than their own lives.

The Prince remarked, " The poor men, in their en-
deavours to save the chest, lost the wealth they had so long
been hoarding ; no doubt their fate is pitiable in the
extreme."

88 THE TALES OF THE SIXTY MANDARINS.

Another Mandarin stood up, and said, " The misers of
Balk are as much to be pitied as the people who sold all
their kine in expectation of having the Ocean of Milk at
their doors."

The Prince wished to know all about the Ocean of Milk,
and the Mandarin related the story of

©aan of

There was a King of a certain country, near the Celestial
Empire, who believed implicitly everything his priests told
him. It was written in their sacred books that there was
somewhere an Ocean of Milk.

The King, therefore, said to the High Priest one day,
" Holy sire, the fact of the existence of the Ocean of Milk
is no myth, I suppose ? "

" Your Majesty may as well doubt your own existence ! "
exclaimed the High Priest.

" If so," said the King, " the milk in this ocean must be
infinitely superior to the milk ordinarily obtained from kine ;
it is a wonder that people have not made use of it."

The High Priest replied, " Your Majesty is aware of the
fact that one half the world is made of atheists, a quarter
again of sceptics, and of the remaining quarter, the true
believers are, again, but as the ring-finger."

The last metaphor of his holiness puzzled the King. He
said to himself, " This may mean that the true believers are
one in five, taking one hand alone, or one in ten taking the
two hands together, one of the hands having no ring-finger
properly so called."

But as high priests should not be asked unnecessary
questions, or such questions as would convey the remotest
inkling of doubt or infidelity, the King feigned a clear

THE OCEAN OF MILK. 89

knowledge of the whole, and said, " Holy sire, may we not
undertake a journey to the Ocean of Milk ? A bath in it
ought to sanctify us. A few drops from it carefully brought
home should provide the whole country with milk for ages
to come."

This last remark of his Majesty needs explanation. It
was written in the books of the priests that if a few drops of
the Ocean of Milk were brought into a country, and emptied
into a cistern, it would at once be filled by the magic drops,
and continued unabated for ages to come, be the quantity
of milk consumed ever so great, hourly, daily, weekly,
monthly, and yearly.

The High Priest said, " Holy thoughts do not come to
all. Your Majesty, in your sanctity and wisdom, has con-
ceived a glorious idea. Great ideas have great obstacles in
their way. Therefore, the sooner we start for the Ocean of
Milk, the better."

Instantly his Majesty gave orders that all the kine in
the country should be sold, and that every one should build
a large cistern for himself, into which a few drops of the
milk from the great ocean would be poured, to the eternal
benefit and happiness of the owner. So all the kine in the
country were sold, and everybody built for himself a cistern
to be filled with the milk from the ocean.

The Prime Minister, who knew the real character of the
record in the holy books about the Ocean of Milk, was
alarmed at the credulity with which the King was preparing
for his journey. So he went to the High Priest in secret,
and said, " My good sir, do you really believe in the exist-
ence of this Ocean of Milk ? "

The High Priest said, " Well, I have not seen it ; the
books say that it exists, and when kings believe the books
the priests ought to be only too glad of -it."

Thereupon the Prime Minister put a heavy purse of gold

9o

THE TALES OF THE SIXTY MANDARINS.

;nto the hands of his holiness and said, " This is, of course,
more substantial than the drops of the imaginary Ocean of
Milk; so let me soon hear from your holiness that the King
has been successfully diverted from his purpose."

The next morning, when the King went to see his holi-
ness, he observed, with a melancholy face, " Alas, I am,
indeed, sorry to tell your Majesty that the Ocean of Milk has
curdled. I have just now received the information, and

" HERE IS A VIAL CONTAINING A FEW DROPS OF IT."

here is a vial containing a few drops of it in its present con-
dition, which the messenger brought from my friend, the
spirit that guards the ocean. Of course, the calamity must
have resulted from the infidelity of some one of us."

The King imagined it was his own fault. The High
Priest, with equal modesty, said he rather thought it was his
own. Then the King asked for a few drops in the vial, and
the High Priest gave them to his Majesty, saying, " It is,
indeed, a holy treasure ! "

His Majesty sprinkled the drops on his own head, and
said it was at least some gratification to have seen the
curdled milk of th? ocean.

The people of the country, who had sold all their kine

THE BABIES OF BAHLISTAN. 91

to foreigners, assembled round his Majesty in turbulent
crowds. His Majesty looked at the Prime Minister, and
the Prime Minister addressing the people, said, " In future
you should take care not to sell your kine, even when the
Ocean of Milk is actually brought to your very doors, for,
even then, it may curdle at any time ! "

The Prince said, " The subjects of his Majesty must
have been very simple-minded, indeed, to have sold all their
kine, trusting to such a contingency."

Here another Mandarin remarked, " Sire, they must,
indeed, have been greater simpletons than the Babies of
Bahlistan ! "

" The Babies of Bahlistan ! " exclaimed the Prince.
" Good Mandarin, introduce us to them at once. We long
to make their acquaintance "

The other Mandarins joined the Prince in his request,
and the Mandarin told the story as follows : —

latos 0f lablistatt.

In a certain country, not far from the Celestial Empire,
there was a province called Bahlistan, where lived a tribe of
men, who were so simple-minded and innocent, that the
people of the adjacent provinces called them, in derision,
the Babies of Bahlistan.

The Babies lived by agriculture, which they conducted
by the aid of money borrowed from the usurers of the
adjacent provinces. The usurers found it so profitable to
deal with the Babies, that they advanced to them any
amount they required, and were generally repaid threefold,
and sometimes even fourfold, when the harvests were over.
Among these usurers there was a merchant named Dalai,

92 THE TALES OF THE SIXTY MANDARINS.

who had grown extremely wealthy by dealing with the
Babies.

When they came to borrow money from him, Dalai
generally gave them a treat, and conducted them over the
halls and corridors of his mansion, that they might be better
impressed with his wealth and magnificence, although he
gave out to people that he did so out of kindly feelings.
The Babies, who were rough and ingenuous men, would
admire the sights displayed to their view, and borrow more
money than ever from their benefactor.

Dalai was also a sort of universal agent and purveyor
for the Babies. If they wanted a spade, he had it made.
If they wanted a. broom or mop, it, went out from his shop.
In this style everything went on well between Dalai and his
victims till a certain year, when the harvest in Bahlistan
proved a total failure, and the Babies were reduced to the
verge of absolute poverty and misery.

They flocked round the mansion of Dalai and solicited
his aid. He said, "Your harvest this year has failed totally.
Well, it may similarly fail next year also. Am I to lose on
your account ? No. Therefore, I not only advance no
money to you this year, but proceed instantly against you in
the Courts of Law, that what chattels yet remain with
you may cover the debt you owe me, at least, to some
extent."

The Babies, with tears trickling down their bushy
whiskers, said, " Ah, Dalai, we have paid you interest at a
hundred per cent, at two hundred per cent., at three hun-
dred per cent., and on some occasions at four hundred per
cent. If we had but a tenth of the money we paid as
interest, we shall be able to live comfortably with our
families and children, even if the harvest should fail for a
dozen years. Do, therefore, pity our present condition and
help us."

THE BABIES OF BAIILISTAN.

93

But Dalai was inexorable; for, as his neighbours observed,
there was as much feeling and tenderness in his heart as in
an iron-mine. So, by the time the Babies went home, the
officers of justice were at their doors, and when the Babies
entered their homes the officers entered with them, and
turned everything upside down.

The Babies were utterly incapable of cunning ; yet the
pressure of circumstances sharpened the wits of one of them,
named Jumbilar, and he said to his brethren, " Friends, till
this moment we have been the victims of our own folly.
Now let us learn a lesson which will serve us well in future.
Mind, we shall all be utterly ruined if you do not take my
advice."

The Babies flocked round Jumbilar, and said, " Brother
Jumbilar, anything in this exigency that is likely to serve us
is welcome."

Jumbilar said, lt Leave everything to me, and when people
put on a question about anything, however trifling it may be,
say — 'Ask Jumbilar.'" They consented with pleasure to
this proposal.

Instantly Jumbilar said to the officers of justice, " We
have just received news, of an unexpected turn of good for-
tune. If you call again the day after to-morrow, you will
not only see the demands of justice satisfied, but get a purse
of gold in recognition of your forbearance on this
occasion."

The officers of justice were puzzled when they heard the
latter part of Jumbilar's speech, and went home in suspense,
some of them remarking, " Well, if the ends of justice as
well as our own ends are to be satisfied, there is no reason
why we should not wait."

Jumbilar, with all the Babies, went to Dalai, and said,
" Good friend Dalai, on second thoughts, your apprehensions
about the safety of your advances appeared to us but just.

94 THE TALES OF THE SIXTY MANDARINS.

In every civilised community the rights of property should-
be guarded by all legitimate means ; so we entertain no dis-
content against you on that score. Now, as good luck
would have it, a great treasure-trove has turned up in one
of our fields."

Dalai, in his eagerness to hear all about it, exclaimed,
" Ah, let us know all about it ; you cannot communicate it
to a better friend and benefactor."

Jumbilar continued, " It consists of innumerable nuggets
of gold, which have to be dug out. This business needs a
great many implements and a very large sum of money to
pay the workmen. Will you supply us with all these things
at once ? Further, there ought to be no deed or document
bearing on the subject. For, should the Sultan know of it,
we will not have a dinar out of it."

The greed of Dalai being excited to an inordinate
extent, he opened his mouth wide enough to reach his ears,
and asked each of the Babies, in whose honesty he had
unbounded confidence, if he agreed to pay interest on the
money advanced at five hundred per cent, in the shape of
the solid nuggets of gold.

Of course each Baby said, " Ask Jumbilar."

Jumbilar agreed to pay accordingly, expressing his regret
that Dalai contented himself with five hundred per cent,
when the Babies had so much in their possession to give.

Instantly Dalai ordered the implements and the money.
The Babies went home with the implements and the money,
of which Jumbilar had the lion's share, and soon retrieved
their fortunes. Of course they gave no more thought to
the nuggets, which Jumbilar said lay buried somewhere
in their fields ; for they found none, although they had
ploughed deep every inch of them.

Dalai, who had implicit faith in the honesty of the
Babies of Bahlistan, waited long patiently. He had also

THE BABIES OF BAHLISTAX.

95

made a special kind of chest to contain the nuggets, and as
he opened the empty chest every hour, to see how it would
look when filled with the brilliant nuggets, it seemed to cry
out, " Oh, where are the nuggets ! When will they
come ! "

So Dalai went to Bahlistan, and asked each of the Babies
for the gold.

Each said, "Ask Jumbilar."

So he went to Jumbilar. But Jumbilar put three of the
fingers of his right hand, in the form of a trident, on his own
forehead, and stood silent.

'JUMBILAR PUT THREE OF HIS FINGERS .

ON HIS OWN FOREHEAD.

" Ah, what is the matter with my friend Jumbilar ? " said
the usurer, turning to the Babies, fancying that something
had gone wrong with the wits of the man.

To this query also the Babies gave the inveterate reply,
" Ask Jumbilar."

But as Jumbilar spoke not, and the Babies made the
same reference over and over again, and as there was
neither deed nor document in the bargain, poor Dalai
returned saying, " Ah, they are Babies no more, but shrewd
men, whose cunning cannot be easily construed \ for the

96 THE TALES OF THE SIXTY MANDARINS.

symbols with which Jumbilar replied to my queries are, I
daresay, indications of deceit. I shall have nothing to do
with these men any more."

The Babies borrowed no more money from the usurer,
but saved enough every year to help them in conducting
their operations. They asked Jumbilar what he meant by the
symbol of the trident. He replied, " When I held up the
three fingers, two others were down as you saw. I meant
simply that we had grown thrice as cunning as he was, and
that he and his cupidity must go down before us, like the
two fingers."

Ever after the Babies of Bahlistan acquired the name of
the Shrewd Men of Bahlistan, and gave birth to a saying to
this effect : — " The very babies of Bahlistan will take to
cunning, when driven to it."

The Prince observed, " Well, if the Babies had been
self-reliant from the beginning, there would have been no
occasion for Dalai to deprive them of so much of their
wealth. A man must ever remember that the best master
he has is Heaven, and the best servant he has is himself."

Here another Mandarin said, " Sire, if a man would
only take pains to do so, he will find all the elements of
prosperity in the talents which Heaven has bestowed on
him. In fact, he will find them all in his own head and
heart, even as the surly farmer found a son-in-law under his
own roof, after going round the whole country in quest of
one.

The Prince requested the Mandarin to relate the story,
and he proceeded with it as follows : —

97

nf

farmer anlr
|3anlraram*

In a certain village in the country of Behar, where the
holy religion of Buddha first flourished, there was an orphan
boy named Pandaram, who for a long time struggled to
make a living with great difficulty. Being desirous oi
improving his circumstances, he went to a philosopher in
that neighbourhood, and asked him for help.

"HE WAS VERY ANGRY."

The philosopher had no money, for, as everybody knows,
there was scarcely any philosopher who was ever rich —
poetry, philosophy, and poverty being counted sisters born
of the same parents ; but he had wisdom. So he wrote
down on a palm-leaf these words : — Patience, perseverance,
and perfect happiness ; and gave it to Pandaram.

With this leaf in hand, Pandaram went to a surly farmer
in the village, and asked him for help.

He was very angry, and said, " If you show your face at
li

98 THE TALES OF THE SIXTY MANDARINS.

this door again, you will have a bucket of cold water thrown
at it ! "

When Pandaram heard this polite and encouraging
admonition, he looked into the leaf, and read the first word,
" Patience." So he patiently put up with the words of the
farmer, and every day showed his face at his threshold.

When Pandaram had done this for a month or so, the
farmer said, " Now tell me if you know how to plough."

Pandaram said he did not know, but that if he tried
he could. So the surly farmer gave him ploughing work in
his fields, observing, " If you aspire for more, you will be
made as destitute as you were before."

Pandaram now looked into the palm-leaf and found the
word " Perseverance ; " so he persevered, and in the course
of a few months became such an expert ploughman, that the
farmer, who had long been in quest of an agent to look after
some of his lands, promoted Pandaram to the place, saying.
" If you aspire for more, you will be a ploughboy as before."

Pandaram persevered in this also. He took special care
to see that the lands entrusted to his charge were well-tilled
and manured. So, when the harvest season came, the lands
of Pandaram yielded more than the lands farmed by his
master ; so that the wife of the surly farmer said, " Good
husband, let Pandaram look after your lands next year,
that they may prove as productive as those already en-
trusted to his care."

The surly farmer was very glad at heart that Pandaram
was coming up so well. But yet, as he had a quaint way of
concealing his gratification behind the veil of harsh speech,
he said, "So this Pandaram is such a great man in farming
as to be considered superior to his master by the very wife of
that master. Let us see how he acquits himself in his new
charge."

So the farmer entrusted to his care his other lands also,

THE FARMER AND THE BOY. 99

In his new charge, Pandaram worked with such patience
and perseverance that the farmer, who had been indebted
to others, paid off all his debts, and had a surplus.

When people in that part of the world get a surplus,
they generally think of marrying their children, however
youthful they may be. The surly farmer had an only
daughter, whom he had long intended to marry to some
youth in the village, or its neighbourhood. The surplus gave
his project a fresh impetus. So he went about the village in
quest of a son-in-law.

A number of young men fell in his way ; but to each of
them he had some insuperable objection. So he returned
home, and told his wife that he had been all round the
village without finding a suitable son-in-law. His wife said,
"Good husband, I have a proposal to make."

" Do make it at once," said the surly farmer, who had
shouldered his wallet to start again in quest of a son-in-law
in some neighbouring village.

The wife said, "What if we bestow our daughter on
Pandaram ? "

" That shall never be ! " said the surly farmer, and went
out prepared for a long journey in quest of a son-in-law.

There was hardly a village in the country of Behar in
which he had not inquired for a youth who would suit him ;
for he took it for granted that if the youth suited him, he
would suit everybody else, including his wife and his
daughter. But every one was below the mark. What was
more surprising not one of them came up to the level of
Pandaram in any respect.

So the surly farmer returned to his village, and told his
wife that after all they had to bestow their daughter on the
orphan youth Pandaram. Then he addressed Pandaram as
follows : — " What settlement do you propose making for the .
benefit of your wife ? "

too THE TALES OF THE SIXTY MANDARINS.

Pandaram gave no reply ; but placed before the farmer
with great ceremony a plate, on which was the palm leaf
which the philosopher had given him, painted yellow — the
colour which was considered most auspicious in that part of
the world.

The farmer read the words on the leaf, bestowed his
daughter on Pandaram, and made him the real manager of
all his concerns. The farmer and his wife led a quiet life
thereafter in happy retirement. Pandaram eventually
became a great landholder of Behar, and whenever people
asked him by what means he had attained his greatness, he
would repeat the words of the philosopher, Patience, per-
severance, and perfect happiness.

The Prince said, " Perseverance in a good cause, indeed,
leads to happiness."

Another Mandarin remarked, " Sire, if people persevere
in a bad cause, they may be equally sure of coming to
grief some day, like the turbulent citizens of Shanghae."

The Prince requested the Mandarin to relate the story,
and he proceeded to tell it as follows : —

^t S/trrbxtkttt Citi^ns 0f

Among the innabitants of the city of Shanghae there
were, at one time, two rival factions, who constantly
quarrelled with each other. Each had its representative
council ; each had its festivals and processions, with banners
and music ; each had its armies of roughs and unprincipled
men to annoy the other; while both gave a world of
trouble to the Mandarin who governed the city.

The device on the banner of one party was a white dog,
while the other faction gloried in having a black dog. So

THE TURBULENT CITIZENS OP SHANGHAE. 101

the two factions were known as the Black Dogs and the
White Dogs in popular phrase. Whenever the rival pro-
cessions met in the streets, the rabble gathered round them,
exclaiming, " The Black Dogs and the White Dogs have
met. Now they fight. What a splendid sight ! "

The ringleaders in these civic disturbances were some
of the leading merchants of the city. The Mandarin often
sent for them, and said, "You are men of education, wealth,
and position. If you do not see that your less educated
dependents and followers behave properly, but incite them
to riot, it will be utterly impossible to preserve order in
the city. Further, the matter has already reached the
imperial ears, and I am sure rigorous measures will be
adopted to quell your turbulence."

On such occasions the Black Dogs would tell the Man-
darin, "Ah, but for the White Dog?, there would be no
riot whatever in the streets of Shanghae."

The White Dogs would invariably reply, " But for the
Black Dogs, a stranger coming into the city might ask if it
was inhabited."

Of course the White Dogs meant that they, for their part,
were so silent and peaceful.

The Mandarin being tired of frequently expostulating
with these people, pondered over the subject within himself,
and one day, summoning the two Dogs before him, said,
*' The Emperor has received a request from a foreign poten-
tate that the merchants of this city should be permitted to
sell to him silken stuffs, of which there are great quantities
in your warehouses. The agent is shortly expected at this
port, in a yellow junk. Will you prepare to transact busi-
ness with him ? "

The merchants readily consented, and prepared to meet
the agent who was expected in the yellow junk. One
morning, as the sun appeared in the east, the yellow junk

io2 THE TALES OF THE SIXTY MANDARINS.

appeared in the harbour. The merchants were in high
spirits at the thought of the enormous profits they expected
to make. So they put their wares in a great many boats
and rowed to the junk.

The agent of the foreign potentate received them with
great attention, and fell to bargaining about the prices of
the different kinds of stuffs.

While the merchants were thus engaged, the captain of
the junk ordered the anchor to be weighed. The Black
Dogs said that the captain wished to take the junk nearer to
the shore. The White Dogs said that the captain wished to
go farther away from the shore. While they were thus
contending again on this subject, with all their traditional
animosity and vehemence, the junk had left the harbour, and
sailed some distance into the sea.

When all chances of escape were cut off, the captain
addressed the merchants as follows : — " Under the com-
mand of the Imperial Court at Pekin, the captain of the
Yellow Junk gives his compliments to the Black Dogs and
the White Dogs that long disturbed the peace of Shanghae,
and hereby informs them that they will be transported in
this good vessel — the Yellow Junk — to a distant island,
where they will be left to fight it out without annoying the
people of their native city any more ! "

The Black Dogs and the White Dogs perceived, when it
was too late, the trap that had been set by the Mandarin to
catch them all at one and the same time. So, for the first
time in their lives, the two Dogs united and addressed the
captain as follows : — "You have a wife like us; you have
children like us. You know the pangs of being separated
from them too well to need explanation. If you will land
us quietly in some out-of-the-way portion of the coast, and
sail away, we will reach Shanghae at dead of night, and
shut ourselves up with our families — no more music, no

THE TRUANT IN A TRIPLE GUISE. 103

more processions, no more banners, no more festivals, no
more dog- devices, no more quarrels and disturbances ! "

But the captain was inexorable. So they were eventually
landed on the shores of the distant island from which they
never returned.

The Black Dogs and White Dogs that yet remained in
Shanghae, having lost their leaders and in such an abrupt
style, dreaded a similar fate to themselves, and settled down
to a life of mutual goodwill and friendship.

The Mandarin, who for a long time had not enjoyed the
luxury of a quiet wink of sleep during the nights — for the pro-
cessions of the two Dogs were conducted generally at a late
hour after dark — laid his head peacefully on the pillow as he
went to bed, saying, " Ah, the Black Dogs and the White
Dogs will howl no more in the streets of Shanghae at dead
of night ! "

The Prince remarked, "After all the captain of the Yellow
Junk enabled the Mandarin of Shanghae to surmount the
difficulty."

Here another Mandarin got up, and saluting the Prince,
said, " Sire, even as the Truant in a Triple Guise enabled
the Sultan to surmount a difficulty which his astrologers
had thrown in the way of his daughter's marriage."

The Prince requested the Mandarin to narrate the story,
and he proceeded as follows : —

Bfruattt in a

There was a Sultan of Samarcand, who had a daughter,
at whose birth the astrologers said, " She will wed a physician,
a fisherman, and a prince."

On being asked by the Sultan whether she would marry

104 THE TALES OF THE SIXTY MANDARINS.

the three husbands one after the other, as death cleared the
way, or at one and the same time, the astrologers said, " Oh,
Sultan, it is written in the book of fate that she should
marry them at one and the same time— a Prince with a
scimitar, a Fisherman with a net, and a Physician with a bag
of medicines."

The Sultan said, " Why, it would be simply monstrous
if my daughter did so. So let her live in celibacy and in
strict confinement all her life."

Accordingly, the princess was shut up in a fortress close
to the capital. His Majesty also issued a proclamation to
the effect that neither physicians, nor fishermen, nor princes
should be permitted to step into his dominions ; that all
people who belonged to these three orders should at once
evacuate it ; that the Princess should be kept in utter
ignorance of the three, and that everybody who ventured to
utter audibly any one of the terms Physic, Fish, and Prince,
should be at once led to the block and have his head cut off.

There was a Genius in the castle in which the Princess
was confined, who said to himself, " The Sultan has issued
a cruel edict. The princes and physicians are indeed a
handful, when compared with the fishermen in the country.
These have been deprived of their living, while those have
left the country and have been shifting for themselves some-
how in foreign lands. Further, the Sultan's mandate is to
the effect that no fish shall ever be served at the table of the
Princess, and that none shall be taken into the castle. This
is depriving the Princess of one of the most wholesome
delicacies of the table. When men err, higher powers ought
to set them right. So I must do my duty in this instance."

With this resolve, the Genius approached the Princess
invisibly, and whispered into her ears, " Fish ! "

The Princess had never heard the name before, so she
asked her maids what the name meant. They said that it

THE TRUANT IN A TRIPLE GUISE. 105

was as much as their life was worth, and that they should be
excused. But the Princess was very sorry that she could
not find out the meaning of the term, so she neither ate nor
drank, nor dressed nor played, but pined away day by day,
crying " Fish ! " and sobbing at intervals in a most piteous
fashion.

The Sultan came to know of it. He said to himself,
" Nobody, I am sure, spoke to the Princess of the three
terms ; yet she utters one of them, which may be a clue to
the rest for aught we know. Her cruel destiny seems to
have revealed the term to her. But yet I must contend
against it."

Accordingly he tried his best to make his daughter
forget the term ; but the more he endeavoured to do so, the
oftener she repeated it.

So he issued another proclamation, saying, " He that
frees our daughter from the delusion under which she has
been labouring will have a high reward, provided he is
neither a physician, nor a fisherman, nor a prince."

When the Genius heard this proclamation, he said,
" Well, that is a wise Sultan after all! " and going to a prince
named Bakeer — who was a nephew of his Majesty, and who
had been expelled from his court as a mischievous truant
and traitor, because he often loitered by the castle where the
Princess was confined to obtain a sight of her if possible —
and said, " Now, put on a triple guise, one over another, so
that you may appear a physician with all three, a fisherman
with two, and a prince with one."

Bakeer did so. Then the Genius gave him a bag
containing a parcel of medicines, a net with three large
fishes in it, and a scimitar of exquisite workmanship, and
transported him to the apartments of the Princess in the
castle, saying, " Now, court the Princess, and win her heart
before the Sultan can know of your arrival here. Take out

io6

THE TALES OF THE SIXTY MANDARINS.

the parcel of medicines first, then the fishes with the net
containing them, then the scimitar, and show them all to the
Princess ; for each of them has a rare charm of love in it,
which will help you wonderfully in your suit."

Having thus introduced Bakeer into the apartments of
the Princess, the Genius approached the Sultan invisibly,

A PHYSICIAN . , TALKING TO THE PRINCESS " (p. 107).

and whispered into his ears, " O, Sultan, the person that is
to free your daughter from the delusion has arrived at the
castle. He is this moment talking to the Princess. What
are you doing here ! "

The Sultan was pleased to hear from the invisible person
that his daughter was likely to be freed from the delusion ;
but at the same time he was enraged to see that the man
had gone to her without his permission.

So he sent for the Grand Vizier and said, " Let every one

THE TRUANT IN A TRIPLE GUISE. 107

of the guards who watch round the fortress be sent to prison
for having let a man in, who is to treat the Princess, without
our permission."

But when the Grand Vizier questioned the guards about
it, they swore nobody had entered the castle.

The Sultan hastened therefore, with drawn scimitar, to
examine the apartments of the Princess personally.

When he went in he was astonished to see a physician,
with a parcel of medicines, talking to the Princess, evincing
great affection and esteem for her. The Sultan ran towards
him with uplifted scimitar, exclaiming, " This is a villainous
physician, indeed, with his perilous parcel of medicines."

Instantly Bakeer ran into an opposite room. Before
the Sultan could enter the room, the "invisible Genius
whispered into the ears of Bakeer, "Now, throw off the
physician's clothes and parcel, and take up the net with the
fishes in it."

Bakeer did so in the twinkling of an eye.

So, when the Sultan entered the room, he found a
fisherman there, and exclaimed, " Ah, here is a villainous
fisherman, with his perilous net and fish ! " and ran towards
him with uplifted scimitar.

Bakeer ran into another room. The invisible Genius
whispered into his ears, " Throw off the fisherman's clothes
and net, and, taking up the scimitar in the bag, boldly
resist the Sultan."

Bakeer did so in the twinkling of an eye.

So, when the Sultan entered the room, he found a prince
there, and exclaimed, "Ah, here is a villainous prince, with
his perilous scimitar ! " and ran towards him, muttering to
himself, " So my daughter has actually proved a monster.
She has had three husbands, at one and the same time,
concealed in her apartments ! The astrologers have proved
true, after all 1 "

io8 THE TALES OF THE SIXTY MANDARINS.

But Bakeer, instead of fleeing into another room, met
the Sultan face to face. Finding a great resemblance
between him and his nephew, the Sultan stood silent for
one moment.

The invisible Genius whispered into the ears of Bakeer,
"Now, put your two other disguises before the Sultan —
forget not the parcel of medicines and the net with the
three fishes in it."

Bakeer did so in the twinkling of an eye.

His Majesty exclaimed, "Ah, Bakeer, is it you — phy-
sician, fisherman, and prince in one ? So you are the
truant, in a triple guise, again ! But have you freed my
daughter from her delusion ? "

" Long ago, sire," said Bakeer, smiling.

Here the Princess came out, and said, " Sire, I am now
quite free from delusion, and feel much better than ever
before in my life ! "

" I am, indeed, happy to hear of it," said the Sultan, and
united the hands of Bakeer and his daughter, observing to
himself, " After all, she has found three husbands in one,
and blame attaches to none ! "

The Prince observed, "The invisible Genius played a
double part. He appeared to be the friend of the Sultan
when he informed him of the presence of the Prince in the
castle, while all the while he was favouring the Prince."

Here another Mandarin got up, and said, " Sire, like
the boy Padang in the Valley of the Hundred Giants, it is
often necessary to play a double part for the public weal."

The Prince asked the Mandarin to relate the story, and
he proceeded with it as follows : —

109

15 erg fairattg antr tfa fjwtfrrcb (giants.

In a valley at a great distance from the city of Amara-
pura, in the Kingdom of Burmah, there lived a hundred
giants, who were " tall as the cocoa palm, and round like a
boulder." Each had a huge club in his hand. There was
this fatal peculiarity about them — if they went out in the
rain, they were sure to fall down dead. Therefore, during
the summer months, they scoured the plains with their huge
clubs, and seizing as many people as came in their way,
returned to the valley, where they spent the rainy months
in feasting.

Further, the giants loved one another very tenderly, and
if any of them suffered any injury, all the rest felt it.
Many people, therefore, fancied they were one hundred
brothers, living in perfect concord. But, in spite of their
brotherly love towards one another, as they treated the
people in the plains with great cruelty, the people were bent
upon working their ruin.

They often said to themselves, in despair, "We are
men ; they are giants. With one sweep of his club, a giant
knocks down a thousand among us. How can we destroy
them?"

There was a poor widow in the city, who had an only
son, named Padang. He was a little boy, that had not his
right arm. People might fancy that a boy who had only
one arm would have kept quiet, without doing any mischief
whatever, brooding over the misfortune that had befallen
him in the loss of the other arm. But Padang was of a
different type. He went about the streets of the city
collecting a great many boys around him, and setting them
on to all kinds of mad frolics and tricks.

This annoyed the townspeople greatly. So they said to

no THE TALES OF THE SIXTY MANDARINS.

the widow, " If you do not take proper care of your boy,
and keep him within doors, we will send him off to the
Valley of the One Hundred Giants."

Padang, who had just then returned from one of his
raids in the city, heard this, and said, " It will do you good
to send me to the valley. Tell the King I wish to go at
once."

When his Majesty was informed of this, he ordered
Padang to leave the city at once for the Valley of the One
Hundred Giants.

Padang said to his mother, "Give me as much bread
and water as will last for seven days, and put in the bag
some flint and steel. I am going to the Valley of the
Giants.

His mother tried her best to keep him from the enter-
prise, as he was her only son. But he was resolute. So,
with tears in her eyes, the poor widow gave him the bread
and water, together with the flint and steel in a bag.

After a long journey, Padang reached the valley, and
stood at the mouth of the cave in which the giants lived.

They saw him with surprise, and said, "Well, little
fellow, with a single hand, who are you ? "

Padang replied, "Well, tall fellows, with two hands, I
am an old friend of your great-grandfather."

The giants said, " Good ! What is your name ? "

Padang replied, " Padang, the single-handed."

The giants said, " Good ! You say you are an old
friend of our great-grandfather — how old are you ? "

Padang said, " Ah, that I can't say. I remember when
this cavern, in which you live, was built by your great-
grandfather, compared with whom you are but pigmies. I
was then by his side, and helped him in lifting up the huge
rocks. One of them fell on my hand, and broke it."

The giants said, " If you assisted our great-grandfather

PADANG . . . STOOD'AT THE MOUTH OF THE CAVE" (/. no

THE BOY AND THE HUNDRED GIANTS. 113

in building this cave, you must have been present when it
was furnished, and you ought to know why it was not
carpeted, in spite of the ground being so rough."

Padang said, " Ah, your ancestors never complained of
the ruggedness of the floor ; it was nothing to them. But
you have degenerated, and so you feel it. But would you
have it carpeted ? "

" Certainly," said the giants.

Padang bade them bring a great quantity of dried grass
from the mountains, and spread it on the floor. Then he
bade them bring the naphtha in a great well in the moun-
tains, and pour it over the grass, saying, " It will make it
smooth and glossy."

The giants were very glad to see the carpet of dried
grass and naphtha.

They treated Padang with the respect due to an old
friend of their grandfather, who had also lost an arm in
building the cave which was their mansion, and he waited
patiently, saying, " The seventh day since I left home is yet
to come. It ought to rain some day in seven days."

Accordingly, it began to rain very hard one evening.

The giants sat down to dinner in great glee. While they
were carousing, Padang came to the mouth of the cave, and,
striking a light with the flint and steel in his bag, set fire to
the carpet.

The naphtha helped the grass to burn quickly, and the
suffocating smoke, mingled with the flames, drove the giants
out of the cave into the open air, where the rain killed them
all.

Padang collected the one hundred clubs of the Uiants,
and returning to Amarapura, laid them before the King, say-
ing, " I am sure your Majesty knows whose clubs these are."

The King knew they belonged to the giants, and that
they must all have perished.
I

ii4 THE TALES OF THE SIXTY MANDARINS.

Padang gave him an account of bis adventure, as his
Majesty was eager to know all about it.

His Majesty was very glad to see that the hundred giants
had been destroyed by Padang, so he bestowed on him the
hand of his only daughter, and presented him with a great
golden umbrella, which was a high honour at the court of
Amarapura.

His mother had apartments in the palace.

His Majesty also issued a proclamation, to the effect that
before all his other royal titles, proper to be used whenever
his Majesty was mentioned, he should be called the Father-
in-law of Padang, the Single-handed, the Lord of the Golden
Umbrella, and the Destroyer of the One Hundred Giants
in the great Valley, at a great distance from Amarapura, in
the kingdom of Burmah.

The Prince said, " The giants met with ruin because they
sought a luxury which their great-grandfather had not."

Here another Mandarin stood up, and said, " Sire, the
giants fancied it was simply carpeting the floor ; but very
serious consequences followed from it, even as from the
endeavours of the man Neph, who lived on the banks of the
Sanpo, and who amused himself by fishing in the streets."

" Fishing in the streets," said the Prince ; " why, that
must have been a curious operation, indeed ! Good
Mandarin, tell us how Neph fished in the streets."

The Mandarin told the story as follows : —

n

In an ancient city, on the banks of the Sanpo, there was
a wealthy man named Neph, who was passionately fond of
the amusement of fishing. But, at the same time, his
luxurious habits had made him so fat and unwieldy that he

FISHING IN THE STREETS.

had neither the power nor the inclination to stir out

house, so he would sit at the window of his chamber,

the street, with a fishing-rod

and a long line attached to one

end of it, and throw it into the

street. To the other end of the

string was attached some eatable,

as a piece of bread, or some

fruit.

He had a boy named Ning,
whose special duty it was to
run out into the street as soon
as his master had thrown the
line, and keep pulling it for
awhile, just as a fish would do
in its endeavours to catch the
bait, and then give it a jerk.

Neph would instantly pull
up the string, saying, " I have
got the fish, my boy ! " and
give the eatable to
Ning, who put it into

his mouth, and rushed

into the street to amuse
his master again.

The friends of the
fat roan long endea-
voured to take him out
into the open air, ob-
serving that, by his
luxurious living, and
sedentary habits, he was
marching towards his
grave with rapid strides.
i 2

of his
facing

HE WOULD £!T . . WITH A FISHING ROD.

n6 THE TALES OF THE SIXTY MANDARINS.

But he would say, "Well, my only amusement out of
doors would be fishing. Now, the real sport in fishing con-
sists in throwing down the line and pulling it up. I have it
at home. My endeavours to amuse myself at home being
so far successful, there is no reason why I should go out —
so be so good as to leave me to myself."

They would reply, "Ah, Neph, your endeavours to
amuse yourself in this style may lead to serious con-
sequences ! " So he acquired the name of Fat Neph among
his neighbours, some of whom called him the idlest man
on the banks of the Sanpo.

Neph was an old bachelor. He did not wish to take a
wife, because he said he could get on very well without one.
But the true reason that Neph had for not marrying was to
save the expense of getting a wife, and keeping her, for
Neph was a miser, although he spent much for a good
table.

In the house opposite to the one in which he lived there
was a lady, who had long conceived the idea of marrying
Neph some day, saying, " I will first reduce his bulk, and
then make him happy."

She waited for an opportunity to meet him, but as he
neither went out of his house, nor admitted ladies into it,
she came up to Ning one evening, as he was about to give
the string a jerk, and, snatchin-; the eatable, put it into her
own mouth, saying, " Well, Ning, if your master should ask
who caught the bait, say { a fish with jet-black hair,' and
nothing more, till you see Uj together, will you? there's a
good boy," and, putting a piece of money into his hand,
disappeared.

When Fat Neph pulled up the string he found the bait
had disappeared.

"Now, my boy," said Neph, "you have grown extremely
greedy. You would not wait till I gave you the fish to eat."

FISHING IN THE STREETS. 117

" I did not eat it, sir," said Ning.

" Who did eat it, then ? " said Neph.

" It was a fish with jet-black hair, sir," said Ning.

" Ah," said Neph to himself, pondering over the subject,
" I see how it was. Some fair .spirit who has long admired
my endeavours to amuse myself by fishing steadily in the
street has done it"

Then he thought of the many gods and goddesses
described in some of the books of the Lamas or Priests of
Thibet, and came to the conclusion that it was a spirit
resembling one of them in shape.

Now there was along-winded proverb, with a hyperbo-
lical conclusion, along the banks of the Sanpo, which said,
" Love smites the fat man, love smites the lean man ; love
smites the tall man, love smites the short man ; love
smites the young, loves smites the old ; love smites the
living, love smites the dead ; so be a man fat or lean, giant
or dwarf, young or old, living or dead, against love he can
never hope to hold up his head."

Fat Neph had long wondered what this proverb meant,
but now his doubts were cleared ; for he fell desperately in
love with the fish with jet-black hair, and rushed out of his
house to see which way it had gone.

This was the first instance for many years when he
crossed the street door. But as he could not decide which
way the fish had gone, he said to himself, " Fish, and spirits
resembling fish, must dwell in the river. So I will go to the
Sanpo and seek for this fish."

So with difficulty, he walked up to the banks of the
Sanpo, and strolled up and down in quest of the fish. But
not finding it there, returned home with a heavy heart.

The next day, while he was fishing from the window, the
lady caught the bait in the same style, unperceived by Neph,
and Ning told the same tale.

n8 THE TALES OF THE SIXTY MANDARINS.

Neph went out to the banks of the Sanpo with the
same eagerness, and returned disappointed, as on the pre-
vious day.

The lady played this for one year. During this period,
Neph had the amount of exercise necessary to reduce his
bulk, and infuse quite a different spirit into him.

On the evening of the last day of the year, Neph, as he
strolled on the banks of the river, said to himself, " Well,
this is strange — that the fish should seize the bait every day,
and persistently disappear before I could come out. How
shall I find it out?"

Just then a boat approached the spot where Neph stood,
and a fair lady landed from it. She had jet-black hair.

"Perhaps," said Neph to himself, "the fish has hair
like this lady," and calling to Ning, who was close by,
asked, u Had the fish hair like this lady, my boy ? "

Ning replied, " This lady is the fish, sir."

Here the lady came up to Neph, and said, " Ning is
quite right."

"Ah, Ning," said Neph, "you might have told me this
long before."

" No, sir," said the mischievous little Ning, " I was
requested not to tell you who the fish was till I saw you
together."

" Well, well, Ning," said his master impatiently, taking
the lady by the hand, " when next a fish of the kind catches
the bait, you will tell me at once, won't you ? "

Ning promised to do so without failure.

Fat Neph soon acquired the name of Lean Neph, and
from an old bachelor he turned into a young husband, and
lived happily with his wife, whom he persistently called The
Fish with the Jet-black Hair.

As his master's endeavours to amuse himself had led to
such serious consequences, Ning had not to run into

KAPLOTH GUNI OF CANTON. 1 19

the street any more, for he was told once for all that the
fish had been caught for which they had been angling for
one whole year.

The Prince remarked that the lady after all did Neph a
world of good by her stratagem.

Here another Mandarin stood up and said, " By such
clever devices, no doubt a world of good may be done
to people, even as Kaploth Guni of Canton did to the
boys of the city, the animals living therein, and the Man-
darin who was long concerned about them."

The Prince asked for the story, which the Mandarin
related as follows : —

(Bunt 0f Catttatt.

In the city of Canton, there was a person named Kap-
loth Guni, whom some people called a wise man, and others
a mad beggar. If he was mad he had, of course, his lucid
intervals. In these, he was very fond of telling little
people all kinds of stories about fairies, genii, goblins, and
giants, in the existence of all of which he said he fully believed.

When he was mad he did nobody any harm, but sat
quietly under a great tree, at some distance from the city,
and ate what his little friends brought him, saying, " Poor
Guni, who will help him if we neglect him ? "

The Mandarin of Canton heard of the great influence
which Guni exercised over the minds of the children of the
city. He came to Guni, as he sat under the tree, and said,
" Kaploth Guni, are you really mad, as people say ? It
really you are subject to fits of insanity, it strikes me you
are sober when you tell your tales, and mad when you sit
quiet and moody."

i2o THE TALES OF THE SIXTY MANDARINS.

Kaploth Guni said, " Good Mandarin. If so, I am
mad when I am sober, and sober when I am mad ! "

The Mandarin said, " You may take a wild buffalo by
its horns, but not a paradox by its words. So, unless you
explain yourself, I cannot understand you."

Guni said, " Prattling is madness ; silence is wisdom.
So I am mad when you think I am sober, and sober when
you think I am mad."

This remark of Kaploth Guni puzzled the Mandarin.
At the same time it impressed him with the idea that Kap-
loth Guni had a great deal of hidden wisdom in him. So
he said, " Guni, the boys and girls of Canton have grown
very troublesome. They constantly pelt stones at birds and
break the windows of houses. I have sent round the
watchman and the town crier with gongs and threatening
proclamations ; but they care not. You have been a kind
of moral watchman to them. Will you try to stop the
evil?"

Guni promised to do so.

The next day, when the children came to see him, they
said, "Good Guni, you speak of the fairies that live in
flowers, the gins that live under the earth, the goblins that
ride on whirlwinds, and the giants that come down from
their caves in the mountains with huge clubs ; well, we like
them all very much. They are, indeed, wonderful people.
May we see them some day ? "

Guni replied, " If you wish to see them, you must go to
the world in which they live. There is but one animal that
knows the way to that world."

" Ah, which is the animal, good Guni ? " asked the
children eagerly.

Guni said, "Well, this animal is a bird — through its
nest lies the way to the world of the wonderful people. If
this bird should perish the clue will be utterly lost."

KAPLOTH GUNI OF CANTON. 121

" What kind of a bird was it ? " was the next question.

Guni replied, " It is a raven, with one wing broken."

The children said, "We see a raven every day; so we
do not think that you mean what you say."

Guni said, " I beg your pardon. I forgot to tell you
that the raven has a bill of gold, and claws of adamant."

" Ah, it must be a pretty little bird ! " said the children

" Indeed, it is ! " said Guni.

One of the children asked, " Good Guni, how did the
poor raven break its wing ? "

All the rest joined in the demand, saying, " How did
the poor raven, with the bill of gold, and claws of adamant,
through whose nest lies the way to the world of the wonder-
ful people, break its wing ? "

" Well," said Guni, " There is a boy in Canton named
Hing — — " Here Guni paused.

The children cried, " Do tell us what he did to the
raven, Guni ! "

Guni continued, " Well, this boy is very fond of pelting
stones at ravens and other birds. One of the stones he
threw broke the wing of the raven."

The children cried, " We will not see his face hereafter.
We will not pronounce the name Hing any more ! "

" But," said Guni, " Have you not thrown stones at
ravens yourselves ? Why do you find fault with him ? "

"But," said the children, "we never broke the wing of a
raven with a beautiful bill of gold and brilliant claws of
adamant ; nor ever will."

Guni said, " Good. I must communicate to you another
fact. This raven at times goes out like an ordinary raven,
concealing its golden bill and claws of adamant."

" If so," cried the children, " we will take care not to
throw stones at any raven hereafter."

"Good," said Kaploth Guni.

122 THE TALES OF THE SIXTY MANDARINS.

So, for some days, the boys and girls of Canton, who
came to hear of the wonderful raven, threw no stones at
ravens.

Then, when the children went to see him on another
day, Kaploth Guni said, "I have just received news that
the raven at times goes out in the form of any bird, and lays
its eggs in any nest it likes."

Instantly the children made a rule among themselves
that they should pelt no stones at any bird, or take the eggs
out of any nest thereafter.

When all this had transpired, the Mandarin said, " Good
Kaploth Guni, the evil has assumed another shape. The
boys and girls of Canton now throw stones at the dogs,
cats, and other animals, and worry them extremely."

The next day, when the children came to him, Guni
said, "Ah, I had information last night that at times the
raven assumes the forms of dogs, cats, and other animals,
and goes about the streets of Canton. Till we catch it,
and ascertain from it the clue to the world of the wonderful
people, we must take care it is not injured."

The children at once desisted from worrying these
animals also. Then the children asked Guni when they
would be able to see the wonderful people.

Guni said, " I have been trying to catch the wonderful
raven. So soon as it comes into my possession, we will get
the clue and go through its nest to the world of the wonder-
ful people. In the meanwhile, as I have already said, you
must take special care not to hurt any animal ; the raven,
as you are aware, may go about in any form it likes. If it
should be disabled or killed, all our hopes of seeing the
wonderful people will be blasted."

Long the boys and girls of Canton hurt no animal, in
expectation of catching the wonderful raven with the bill
of gold and claws of adamant, through whose nest lay the

THE ELIXIR OF LIFE. 123

route to the world of the wonderful people, and Kaploth
Guni told them the same tale whenever they asked him
about it.

The Mandarin of Canton was astonished to see the
wisdom of Kaploth Guni, which worked such wonders with
the boys and girls of the city, and honoured him as his
friend and counsellor.

The Prince said, "The wisdom of Kaploth Guni
effected a great deal more than all the power of the
Mandarin and his subordinates put together."

Another Mandarin stood up and said, "Sire, wisdom
can work wonders, even as it did in the case of the Imam
of Arabia, who converted No-Date-Land into All-Date-
Land, by inducing his people to strive for the attainment of
the Elixir of Life."

The Prince expressed an eager de> re to hear the story,
and the Mandarin related it as follows : —

(Blmr 0f

There was an Imam who ruled over a certain province
of Arabia, the people of which were notorious for their idle
and nomadic habits. But the Imam was a very learned
and wise man. So he said to himself, " The value of a
good ruler is perceived in the results that flow from his
rule. My people have long been addicted to wandering
from place to place without a settled abode; they have
neither wealth nor refinement. I must endeavour to
better their condition."

With this resolve, he carefully examined the various
traits in the character of his subjects, and found out that a

124 THE TALES OF THE SIXTY MANDARINS.

passion for long life was the most powerful impetus for
action among them. So he told them one day, " I saw the
prophet last night in a vision. He said he had learnt that
my subjects were eager to live long in this world, and that
all that they had to do to secure longevity was to find out
the Elixir of Life. . This, again, the prophet said, would be
found, after all, enclosed within a date fruit in this
province."

The subjects of the Imam said, " Did the prophet say
that the Elixir of Life would be found enclosed in a date
fruit of this province, or did he say that it would be found
in a date fruit simply ? If the latter, we will at once make
a raid into any and every province of Arabistan where there
are date trees, and find out the particular fruit alluded to by
the prophet."

"Alas !" said the Imam, " I am sorry it is not as you
have suggested. I remember the prophet distinctly saying
a date fruit of this province."

The people said, " There are no date trees in this
province at all. In all Araby it is counted the most
barren ; so much so, that many call it No-Date-Land.
But the prophet's word, at the same time, must be true.
So, good Imam, do ask the prophet again what his words
mean."

The Imam promised to do so.

The next morning the Imam said, " The prophet, with
that regard which he ever maintains for the faithful,
answered my prayer, and told me, last night, that the date
fruit after all will be found in this very province."

" If so," said the people, " we have to cultivate the trees
in this province."

" That is exactly what the prophet meant ! " said the
Imam.

One of the men said, " No date trees will ever grow in our

THE ELIXIR OF LIFE.

125

soil, it is so barren. If any could be grown, they should
have been grown long ago."

Instantly the Imam observed, " I forgot to tell you what
the prophet said on this point. It would appear that every
soil has a certain amount of fecundity for the date tree ;
that our land has not produced dates from time immemorial;
that, therefore, its productiveness has been long conserved,
and that the dates we shall produce will be so rich and
bulky, that the one which is to contain the Elixir of Life will
be found among them."

This argument appeared incontrovertible to every one
in the assembly. While they were pondering as to what
they were to do next, the Imam with his own hands
planted in his garden a date plant, which he had already
imported from an adjacent province.

Thereupon, every man said to himself, " Well, longevity
is a blessing which, by all means, is worth having. The
prophet has said that the Elixir of Life will be found in a date
fruit in this province. Who knows in whose garden the
tree may grow that is to produce the wonderful date fruit ?
It may appear, after all, on a tree in my own garden, if I
should take the trouble of cultivating it there. Once I get
the fruit, not only do I secure to myself great longevity,
but -I can sell every atom of it for a fabulous sum of money
and make mountains of wealth by it. Again, look to the
reputation I shall gain. Why, every holy man among the
faithful will call me a blessed saint, and crave the favour of
my intercession on his behalf with the prophet, who has
been pleased to confer such a blessing on me. So let me
not neglect the duty I owe to myself in this respect."

With this resolve, every man worked at it. He enclosed
a plot of ground, imported the date plant from the surround-
ing provinces, and cultivated it with such care that in course
of time the whole territory was covered with date trees,

126

THE TALES OF THE SIXTY MANDARINS.

whose fruit not only supplied the inhabitants with nutritious
food, but gave them a large surplus, which they sold to
people of other provinces.

Thus, a brisk trade in the fruit, which soon led to the
exportation and importation of sundry other commodities,
infused a commercial spirit into the people. With commerce
came wealth ; with wealth came the arts and sciences. With

" EVERY MAN CULTIVATED IT WITH

CARE" (/ 125).

them refinement of tastes and manners, till, after all, travellers
passing through No-Date-Land, failed to recognise it as such.
In fact, the very name of the province had changed. So
many date trees grew on all sides in it, that it came to be
known all over Araby as All-Date-Land.

In the midst of all this the people did not forget the
promise of the prophet, as they fancied that the Elixir of
Life would be found in some date fruit some day in the
province.

THE ELIXIR OF LIFE. 127

So they one day surrounded the Imam, and said, " Holy
luler, the blessings that have been showered upon us by
your wise and beneficent rule have been incalculable. We
were a nomadic tribe, with precarious means of subsistence.
But your wisdom has converted us into a little nation of
industrious men, with knowledge, wealth, and refinement.
We are perfectly happy as we are ; yet, as curiosity impels
us to ask the question, deign to tell us if the Elixir ot
Life will actually appear some day in the fruit of our
trees."

.The Imam replied, "The prophet did not specify the
time within which it ought to appear, so persevere to culti-
vate the date and leave the rest to Providence."

So to this day the people of All-Date-Land are the most
industrious and prosperous in Araby. They celebrate once
a year a festival in honour of the first planting of the date
in the garden of the Imam, which memorable event was the
commencement of their prosperity.

The Prince remarked, " Prior to the Imam who con-
verted No- Date-Land into All-Date-Land, there must have
been Imams equally wise, but they had not resolved to
ameliorate the condition of their subjects as this good
Imam did."

Here another Mandarin stood up and said, " He who
resolves to do a thing will often do it, even as the Prince
who resolved to obtain the Magic Ruby on the Head of the
Serpent, and got it at last, together with the Princess, who
had declared her willingness to wed the man who achieved
the feat"

The Prince requested the Mandarin to narrate the story,
and he proceeded with it as follows : —

128

0n l\)t H^atr of tljt

In the country of Siam, which was famous for its rubies,
there was in ancient times a serpent which was said to
have in its head the best ruby in the world. The tradi-
tion about the jewel was that a magician who knew all about
the properties of these stones once turned over the books
that treated about the subject in the occult art, and said to
himself, " Ah, here is the formula after all. The best rubies
in the world are those that are cultivated in the heads of
serpents by the power of magic. If a thousand serpents be
chosen and the formula pronounced a thousand times, every
one of them begins to bear the crude form of the ruby at
once in its head. A thousand years after, some one of them
will survive. That one will bear in its head the most
precious ruby in the world."

The magician, counting upon living a thousand years,
selected in his imagination a thousand serpents, and infused
the ruby principle, as he called it, into the head of each,
by the magic formula. But before the full period of a
thousand years required for the maturing of the gems could
elapse, all the serpents but one had perished, and the
magician himself went the way of all mortality.

The one surviving serpent lived in the cave of a great
mountain far from the capital of the Sultan.

When the sun or moon shone, it never crept out of its
den. In the darkest nights the serpent emerged from it,
deposited the gem in its head, in the middle of a vast plain
near the mountain, and, by the aid of the brilliant red light
emitted by it far and wide, went in quest of its prey.

A great many travellers had seen the red glare of the
ruby, but not one of them had the courage to approach it.
For instantly, they said, the serpent would rush hissing at

THE MAGIC RUBY. 129

them with flaming eyes, and reduced them to a heap of ashes
by its fiery gaze.

The kings of the country had long been eager to possess
this ruby. But as the difficulties in the way of getting at
it were almost insurmountable, they had died without
accomplishing the object, till it came to the turn of a king
who had an only child — a daughter — to strive to obtain the
gem. The Princess, as the poets of her father's court
observed, was fair as the full-blown lotus, and accomplished
like the goddess of wisdom. She was called Ratnamala, or
Necklace of Gems.

She was so called, not only because she was as beautiful
as a necklace of gems, but also because she wore a necklace
of the most valuable gems in the world. When she came
of age, her mother said to her, " Dear Ratnamala, your father
wishes to celebrate your marriage ere long. Confide to me
the secret wish of your heart as to the Prince who is to be
our son-in-law."

Ratnamala, gracefully holding her necklace in her hano\
said, " Dear mother, there are eight large gems in this, which
have been called eight planets. If I remember right the
planets are nine. So one more gem is wanted to complete
the number. That one shall be the brightest yet obtained
— the magic ruby in the head of the serpent. He that
brings me the gem will be your son-in-law."

The Queen was very sorry that her daughter had set her
heart on such a perilous prize.

When the King heard it, he was no less concerned. So
he proclaimed throughout his dominions that he would
bestow his daughter in marriage on that person who brought
him the magic ruby.

In the kingdom of Burmah there was a Prince named
Bahubal, who had long been in love with the Princess
Ratnamala, although he had never once seen her. He said
J

130 THE TALES OF THE SIXTY MANDARINS.

to himself, " If I do not marry the Princess Ratnamala, I
do not want to live. If I get this gem, I marry her ; if not,
I perish in the attempt. So I must go in quest of it."

Accordingly, he accoutred himself in mail, with a helmet,
which had sharp spikes on it, and rode on in the direction
of the mountain in Siam, where the serpent lived.

He alighted at the inn of a village at some distance from
the mountain, and asked the landlady what the wonders of
the place were.

She said, " Ah, there is a reptile in this neighbourhood,
which they have dignified with the name of a serpent. It
has a piece of red tinsel in its hood, which they have digni-
fied with the name of a magic ruby.* There is the daughter
of a Sultan here, who has fallen in love with the valiant un-
known who is to fetch her the trinket. If you have a
mind to marry her — I have no doubt you deserve her — you
may get the ruby."

The Prince asked what the secret of attaining the gem was.

The landlady replied, " The only secret of success is to
advance boldly and cover the gem with something on which
the serpent may strike its head to death. Of this many are
aware, but not one of them will dare. So all that is required
is the resolution to do so."

Prince Bahubal thanked the landlady for her valuable
information, and when night had set in proceeded to the
plain near the mountain, and hid himself in a cluster of
rocks. About midnight the serpent came out of its den,
hissing in a most hideous fashion, arid depositing the ruby at
some distance from the spot where Bahubal was, proceeded
far in quest of its prey. When it was almost out of sight,
Bahubal silently approached the gem, covered it with his
helmet, and returning to his hiding-place in the rocks, care-
fully watched the result.

So soon as the helmet covered the gem it became dark

THE MAGIC RUBY. 131

all round. But, owing to the slightly uneven surface of the
plain, a glimpse of light escaped through a small aperture
at the bottom of the helmet, which pointed out to the
serpent where the gem was. So it returned with great fury,
and, raising its head, struck the helmet with it. But the
helmet being spiked, the hood of the serpent was pierced
through, and in a few moments more it was writhing in
agony, hissing in a very hideous style. Soon the hisses
subsided, and it lay lifeless on the ground.

"THE SERPENT . . . , RETURNED WITH GREAT FURY."

When the day dawned the Prince came out of his hiding-
place, and fastening the gem to his heart with a chain of
gold took up the bloody helmet in one hand, and dragging
the carcase of the serpent with the other, presented himself
at the gates of the capital of the King.

His Majesty received Prince Bahubal with every mark
of attention, while the Princess Ratnamala asked why he
had fastened the gem to his heart.

Bahubal instantly unloosened the jewel and presented it
to the Princess with great courtesy, saying, " That is my
heart."

132 THE TALES OF THE SIXTY I\TANDARINS.

The Princess had from this an idea of the love and
devotion of Prince Bahubal towards her, and completing the
number of the planets in the necklace, gave her hand in
marriage to Prince Bahubal, who rejoiced to say that he
had wooed her at the risk of his life, and wedded her, to
his great happiness.

The King and Queen were extremely delighted. The
people shared in their delight sincerely, and all over the
country there were rejoicings in honour of the double event
—the acquisition of the Magic Ruby after all by Prince
Bahubal, and the marriage of the Prince with fair Ratna-
mala, who wore the necklace with the nine planets in it —
the Magic Ruby emitting its red light in the middle.

The Prince remarked, " The Magic Ruby was the means
of uniting the Prince Bahubal and the Princess Ratnamala.
Well, it often happens that such strange media bring together
kindred souls."

Another Mandarin replied, " Sire, the Magic Ruby united
the Prince and the Princess, even as the Yellow Banner
brought together the charitable merchant, Le Hoi, of
Nankin, and his still more charitable and benevolent wife."

The Prince expressed an eager desire to know all about
the Yellow Banner, and the Mandarin told the story as
follows : —

0f tfc f dioto

In the city of Nankin there was a youth named Le Hoi,
who had extremely tender feelings and susceptibilities. He
could not, as he often said, bear the sight of a butterfly with
a broken wing, or a beetle that was ill-treated by wicked
children.

THE STORY OF THE YELLOW BANNER.

'33

When he walked through the streets especially, he
carried in his pockets crumbs of bread, and other perqui-
sites from the pantry and the kitchen, and distributed them
freely among the hungry dogs and other animals, that had
got into the habit of applying to him for aid, whenever they
found themselves in his way.

The father of Le Hoi was one of the wealthiest mer-
chants in Nankin ; and as he was his only son, he gave him

" HE COULD NOT .... BEAR THE SIGHT OF A BUTTERFLY WITH A BROKEN

WING" (p. 132).

any amount of pocket-money that he required. This Le
Hoi generally laid out in relieving the wants of the dis-
tressed. If he saw in the streets a child without shoes, or
other articles of necessary attire, he took it silently to
a shop that sold the articles, and, supplying the want, went
his way.

Another great point, which Le Hoi made it a religious
duty to observe, was that no third party should know
anything of his humane services to the poor.

One day Le Hoi was passing by a place, not far from
the great Porcelain tower, in the city of Nankin, when he
saw near it a great concourse of people. He mixed with
the crowd.

134 THE TALES OF THE SIXTY MANDARINS.

In the centre of a circle formed by the rabble there
was a poor little kitten, one of whose legs had been broken
by some carriage passing over it, and which was lying in a
helpless condition. Every one was amusing himself with its
agonies.

One said, " The wily little thing ! It appears to be so
helpless at present. But if it had been permitted to grow
into a great tom-cat, and came to your window of a night
with its hideous caterwauling, you would then see it in its
true colours. I really thank the man that has disabled the
pest so completely."

Another observed, " I hate the cat tribe with all my
heart. Look how the monster, with his wily little eyes,
feigns weakness. You must let him go near the pail, and
see how he would fall to lapping."

Just then a little girl, with a very innocent and amiable
face, and eyes full of compassionate tears, approached the
helpless animal and held over it a yellow banner, which she
had in her hand, to shelter it from the rays of the sun,
saying, " I am glad mamma bought me this for a plaything
to-day. It helps me to shelter the poor kitten from the
rays of the burning sun."

Le Hoi exclaimed, "Ah, here is a ring of all the
brutality and wickedness in Nankin, and there, in the
centre of it, a true picture of humane sympathy and kind-
ness. The philosophers say that man is compounded
of the gods and the demons, and maintain their position
by pointing to the world above, which has all the good in
it, and the world below, which has all the evil in it, while
this intermediate world shares the characters of both.
The demons are in the ring, and the gods in the centre in
the form of that little sympathetic soul. Why, she is yet a
child ! and her banner — it is, indeed, the banner of triumphant
mercy and benevolence. I wish I knew who she is."

THE STORY OF THE YELLOW BANNER. 135

While Le Hoi was thus soliloquising on the scene, a
servant of the house from which the kitten had strayed info
the streets came up, and, taking it gently in her hands, kissed
the girl in recognition of her kindly feelings towards it, and
returned home.

Le Hoi hastened to know who the girl was ; but, before
he could see her, she had disappeared. He spent a long
time in the neighbourhood making inquiries about her, but
no one seemed to know anything about her.

The tableau of the girl, with the yellow banner held over
the helpless kitten, surrounded by all the brutality and wicked-
ness of Nankin, as he put it, made such a vivid impression
on the mind of Le Hoi, that he thought of nothing else.
Day and night it haunted his mind, and made him extremely
unhappy.

He laid himself down on a couch in a mood of utter
despondency, and seldom stirred out. His parents came to
know of it. They tried their best to find out who the little
girl was ; but their endeavours were equally fruitless with his
own.

"Father," said Le Hoi, "the fair little girl, with her
sympathetic looks, stands before me ! I see the tears
flowing down her cheeks ! " and fell down on the couch
sobbing.

The merchant concluded that his son was growing de-
lirious over it, and that if the girl was not found out he
would pine away. So he sent the town-crier, specifying the
day on which Le Hoi saw her, to proclaim a high reward
to any who would point out the place where the little girl
lived that held a yellow banner over a kitten with a broken
leg, near the Porcelain Tower, on that day.

After all, the girl was found out. She was the daughter
of another merchant, who proved to be a friend of the father
of Le Hoi. When Le Hoi saw her, he was beside himself

136 THE TALES OF THE SIXTY MANDARINS.

with joy, and requested her to make him a present of her
banner. Every day he visited her in her house, and then
brought her home to spend a few hours with him and his
parents. His parents, who had long been in suspense if he
would ever find a partner in life as humane and tender as
himself, were extremely delighted to see the two together.

In course of time a deep attachment sprang up between
them, and they became husband and wife. They were so
humane and charitable that it was long a saying in Nan-
kin, that the poor of the city would find all the comforts of
life if they but pronounced the names of Le Hoi and his
wife

The Prince remarked, " When Le Hoi read the heart of
the little girl in her innocent and amiable countenance, and
in the tears of commiseration she shed over the helpless
little animal, he must, indeed, have been extremely gratified.
All such means of reading others' thoughts and feelings have
to be highly commended."

Here another Mandarin stood up, and said, "Sire, all
means of reading others' thoughts short of the Wonderful
Pair of Spectacles have, indeed, to be highly commended."

The Prince wished to know all about the Wonderful Pair
of Spectacles, and the Mandarin told the tale as follows : —

ir of

In a certain city on the banks of the Amu there were
two friends, named Damar and Sirnib, \vhov one day, while
walking on the banks of the river, entered into a conversa-
tion to this effect.

Damar — " What an excellent thing it would be if we
could know what passes in the hearts of others ! "

THE WONDERFUL PAIR OF SPECTACLES. 137

Sirnib — "Yes, it would, indeed, be the happiest thing
on earth to read others' thoughts at a glance ! "

Damar — " Then I shall be able to know what you wish
to have from me without putting you to the trouble of ask-
ing for it."

Sirnib — " Yes, I should be able to know what you
choose to have from me before you should actually let me
know of it."

Sirnib had scarcely finished speaking, when a fairy rose
from the river, and, standing before them, said, " Well, your
wish has been heard by the god of the river, and I have
been sent up to see you, and give you your desires."

Damar said, " Then let us know how our wish is to be
gratified."

Sirnib said, " O, do not delay any longer."

Thereupon, the fairy drew out from her pocket a pair of
gilt spectacles, and addressing Damar, said, " Now, put them
on and look at the heart of your friend."

To his surprise, Damar read every secret thought of
Sirnib, and, after meditating for a while, said, with a sigh,
" Ah, Sirnib, but for that one thought of yours, you must,
indeed, be counted the most sincere friend ! "

Sirnib said, with great concern, " Damar, do tell me what
it is ! "

"Why, Sirnib," said Damar, "did you not, a moment
ago, think that if you alone had the privilege of using this
pair of spectacles it would be an excellent thing?"

Sirnib said with a smile, " Now, good Damar, let us see
if your thoughts have been purer," and putting on the
pair of spectacles, looked attentively at the heart of his
friend.

After scrutinising all the thoughts in it, he put by the
pair of spectacles with a deep sigh, and said, "Ah, Damar, I
never knew you would be so vindictive ! "

138

THE TALES OF THE SIXTY MANDARINS.

" I should like to know why you call me vindictive,"
said Damar.

" Why, Damar," said Sirnib, " did not the thought
occur to you a moment ago that you should avail yourself
of the earliest opportunity to chastise me for the thought

" PUTTING ON THE PAIR OF SPECTACLES " (p. 137).

I entertained about the proprietorship of the pair of
spectacles ? "

Daniar replied, " Your query but betrays your folly ! "

" How so ? " said Sirnib, angrily.

Damar replied, " Why do you complain against my
thought when your thought was equally bad ? "

Sirnib said, " I assure you the evil intent in my thought
was not half as reprehensible as in yours."

THE WONDERFUL PAIR OF SPECTACLES. 139

Damar said, " Evil is evil, be it the size of a mustard-
seed or of a mountain."

Sirnib said, "Let me tell you that you are the mosv
vindictive person alive, in spite of all your specious argu-
ments to the contrary."

Damar said, " Allow me to assure you that there is more
hidden villainy in your bosom than in twenty hearts like
mine put together, and that your heart was black as the
blackest night while I fancied it was bright as a summer
day ! "

Sirnib exclaimed, " How I curse the day on which I
called you friend for the first time ! "

" I curse the day when I first saw you ! " said Damar.

Thus poor Damar and Sirnib, who had been such friends
before, became deadly enemies, and were going to challenge
each other to mortal combat, when the fairy drew out a
golden vial from the folds of her garment, and poured a little
of the balmy ointment in it on the head of each. Instantly
all ill-feelings disappeared from their minds. They asked
the fairy what the name of the vial was.

She replied, " It is the vial of oblivion ; out of it come
the drops of a balmy ointment called forgiveness."

Then the two friends, who had forgotten all that had
transpired between them, walked hand in hand as before.

The fairy followed them some distance, and said, " Will
you put on the spectacles once more ? "

" Never more ! " said Damar ; " we will keep all the evil
to ourselves, and do nothing but good to our friends."

Sirnib said, "Ah, evil of the size of a mustard-seed
weighs down good of the size of a mountain. A moment
of animosity annihilates an age of harmony and friendship.
It is, therefore, evident that heaven has denied to man the
power of reading the hearts of his companions, lest the plea-
sure of reading others' thoughts might be more than counter-

/4o THE TALES OF THE SIXTY MANDARINS.

balanced by the misery to which it leads. So, good fairy,
keep the pair of spectacles to yourself, and see that it no
more falls into our hands ! "

The Prince observed, " It is, indeed, true that a mere
trifle often creates differences between people who had been
friends for years together."

Another Mandarin remarked, " Sire, a great deal of good
that friends do to one another is often lost through the
lack of self-denial in some trifling instance or other, on
either side, even as the Mountain of Gold was lost by the
miser Aga, because he would not part with as much of it
as would come up to a mustard-seed in size."

The Prince requested the Mandarin to relate the story,
and he narrated it as follows : —

antr tfyt Jtt0utttain of

In the city of Bushire there was a miser, named Aga,
who fancied that there was somewhere a mountain of
pure gold, and that if he secured it he would be the
richest man on earth.

He said to himself, " Surely, I shall be able to meet
some man in Bushire who knows where the mountain is,"
and often went out, dressed in the rags which formed his
garments, to find out the man.

People that saw him go out would say, " Miser Aga is
going out in quest of the mountain of gold."

One day, as he was rambling at some distance from the
city, a Genius appeared before him, saying, " Aga, I know
where the mountain is. Yet all that I can do is to show it
lo you ; more I cannot. What will you do with it ? "

THE MISER AND THE MOUNTAIN OF GOLD. 141

Aga replied, " I will bring it home and lock it up in my
coffers."

So the Genius transferred him at once to a wood
full of trees whose trunks, branches, and leaves were of gold,
and whose fruit consisted of diamonds, rubies, emeralds,
and other precious stones, saying, " Our road to the
Mountain of Gold is through this wood."

Aga said, " In addition to the mountain, I shall cut down
these trees and take them all home, not omitting their roots,
and the earth from which they have been growing."

The Genius said, " You propose putting the mountain
in your coffers ; where will you put the branches of these
trees ? "

" I will sell all my cattle and put the branches in the
sheds," said Aga.

11 The leaves ?" said the Genius.

" I keep a dog to watch my house ; I will sell him for
the price he may fetch, and put the leaves in his hole," said
Aga.

" The trunks ? " said the Genius.

" I have a son and a daughter who have each been
occuping a room, I shall send them down to sleep in the
kitchen, and put the trunks in their rooms," said Aga.

" The vast quantity of fruit ? " said the Genius.

" Let me see," said Aga ; " my wife has a room for her-
self. She will vacate it and go into the kitchen with her
children, and I will put the fruit into it."

" The roots, and the earth, and sundry other things ? '
said the Genius.

" They will go into my own room, and into various other
holes and crevices in the house."

The Genius asked how he was going to guard so much
wealth from thieves.

Aga replied, " Dogs as a rule are more faithful than men.

142 THE TALES OF THE SIXTY MANDARINS.

There are many hungry dogs in the streets of Bush ire.
Myself, my wife, and our children will stint ourselves in our
usual fare, and give to them a share, so that they may guard
the house with care."

The Genius observed with a smile, " Why, good Aga,
your comforts seem to diminish in proportion to the increase
of your wealth and prosperity ! "

Aga replied, " Of all things that elude our grasp with
dogged pertinacity, gold is the most conspicuous. So, when
once it gets into our clutches, it ought to be our care to
keep it, and, if possible, to augment it."

Then the Genius led Aga to the mountain. It was very
lofty, and some of its peaks seemed to touch the clouds.
Aga saw it with wonder, and exclaimed, " I wish I had been
born, bred, and buried on this mountain ! "

Then they walked round its base, and saw various
people, young and old, of both sexes, going round like
themselves.

The miser asked his guide who they were.

The Genius replied, " Aga, all people, young or old,
dream of the Mountain of Gold. I have been appointed
to bring some of them here. They have come to carry
off the mountain like you."

" Alas," said Aga, " it is but one mountain, and so many
of them here ! So, I shall not have it after all ! "

"Not so, Aga," said the Genius, "I am sorry I did not
speak to you of these people, when I told you of the
mountain. But there is no harm in going shares with
them."

Aga exclaimed, with an emphatic shake of the head, " I
will not give them an atom out of the mountain. I must
have it all to myself."

The Genius said, " No, good Aga, you will not lost
much by going shares with them. There are but a dozen

THE MISER AND THE MOUNTAIN OF GOLD. 143

people after all, as you see. There are a dozen peaks of the
mountain. Further, each peak, when taken out, will grow
into another mountain with a dozen peaks, by itself."

Aga replied, " If so, I shall be all the happier. I
will carry the whole mountain, and splitting it into twelve
peaks, breed twelve great mountains out of them. Then

"AGA

WENT TO ITS BASE."

again, I shall split each mountain into twelve peaks, and
have them all grown into great mountains of gold — and so
on, continually."

As Aga was in this manner determined to have the
whole Mountain of Gold to himself, the Genius said, " Well,
if so, you had better take the mountain home."

Instantly Aga, in his eagerness to possess the Mountain
of Gold, went to its base to see if he could by any

144 THE TALES OF THE SIXTY MANDARINS.

chance lift it up. But it defied all his strength. So he
requested the Genius to transfer it to his house.

The Genius replied, " I can, as I already pointed out,
but show you the Mountain of Gold. There is, however,
another secret in connection with the mountain which
I may divulge to you."

" What is it ? " asked Aga, with still greater avidity.

The Genius said, " If you will give as much as a mustard-
seed of gold out of the mountain to the twelve people going
round it — I assure you they will share the seed equally
among themselves, and depart contented — you will be
able to carry off the mountain as though it were a feather."

Aga pondered over the subject for a moment, and said,
"That I will not!"

"If so," said the Genius, "you must carry it home if you
can," and disappeared.

"Alas/' said Aga, "what is the use of longing to
possess the Mountain of Gold, without the power to carry it
home ! "

The Genius, who was watching him at a distance, said,
" Aga, if misers had the power to carry off all the moun-
tains of gold of which they dream, without giving as much
as a mustard -seed out of them to others, then there would
hardly be any space on earth for other people to put their
things in."

Poor Aga returned to Bushire with a very unhappy
heart.

The story of his failure got abroad. Whenever a man
fancied he would get at some great thing, like the Mountain
of Gold, people in Bushire would say, " Well, there is Aga
going in quest of the Mountain of Gold ! "

The Prince remarked, " Poor Aga !' He must, indeed,
be pitied. It seemed as though his cupidity was scoring

THE PRINCESS AND THE GIANT. 145

victory after victory in conjunction with the Genius, till,
after all, a mere trifle upset the whole, and sent back Aga
with all his hopes blasted for ever."

Another Mandarin stood up, and said, " Sire, misers and
despots meet with discomfiture from some unexpected
obstacle of their own creation, even as the Giant Death-
Sprinkle, who fell a victim to his own wickedness, which
led him to aspire for such a high prize as the hand of
the fair and amiable Princess Dirnar."

The Prince wished to know all about the Giant and
the Princess, and the Mandarin proceeded with the
story : —

Birttar aitfc tfa (Slant

In the island of Java there lived a Giant, named Death-
Sprinkle, because he had the wonderful power of killing
people by simply sprinkling water on their heads. When-
ever he felt hungry, he took a great bucket of water, and,
going about the country, would sprinkle the water in it on
the heads of as many people as came in his way, and carry
off their bodies for his breakfast.

The matter was reported to the Sultan, and he went out
with his army to meet the Giant.

He came out from the mountain-cave in which he lived.
and with a loud laugh addressed the Sultan as follows : —

" You have an army— I have a bucket. Yet see what
the result of the contest will be." Then he sprinkled
the water in his bucket on the troops of his Majesty,
and all those on whom the drops fell dropped down
dead.

K

146 THE TALES OF THE SIXTY MANDARINS.

The Sultan escaped with the remaining army, and shut
himself up in his capital.

The Giant pursued him to the very gates of the city, and
posted himself in a tower at some distance, saying, " I will
not leave this place till I sprinkle on the heads of the
Sultan and all his subjects the water in this bucket, and
feed upon their bodies."

During the day, Death-Sprinkle went out into the coun-
try, and killing as many as came in his way, returned to the
tower for the night. Therefore the people left their homes,
and hid themselves in the caves of the mountains.

At the same time a great drought came over the land.
A dreadful famine followed the drought. The people in the
city, who were cut off from their brethren in the country,
having no provisions whatever, ate cats, dogs, rats, mice,
and other vermin.

The Sultan assembled his ministers, and laid the state
of affairs before them. They advised his Majesty to enter
into a treaty with the Giant. So the Grand Vizier was sent
to negotiate with him.

He stood on the ramparts, and said, "Great Death-
Sprinkle, the Sultan is sorry for what has happened.
Propose your own terms of peace, and he will accept
them."

"Well," said Death-Sprinkle, "that is a wise Sultan
after all. Tell him Death- Sprinkle will not take his hand out
of his bucket till the Princess Dirnar, his only daughter,
is sent to him as his bride, and one-half his Majesty's
kingdom is ceded therewith."

The Grand Vizier laid the terms of peace before the
Sultan and his council.

" His Majesty said, " I would rather give up the whole
of my kingdom than give him my daughter in marriage."

So there was lamentation again in the city.

THE PRINCESS AND THE GIANT. 147

The Princess Dirnar heard what had happened. She
went to her father, and said, "Sire, send me to Death-
Sprinkle. I think it better that one like me should suffer
than that a whole country should be lost in suspense and
misery."

The Sultan tried to dissuade the Princess from her
purpose, representing to her the dreadful fate to which she
voluntarily offered herself a victim. But Dirnar continued
resolute, so the Sultan, with tears in his eyes, ordered the
Grand Vizier to take her to the ramparts of the city and
hand her over to the Giant.

When Death-Sprinkle saw the Princess he was very
glad. So he exclaimed, " I will do no more harm to my
father-in-law and his subjects ; for he that receives a man's
daughter in marriage becomes the guardian of his interests."
Then he addressed the Princess as follows : — " What a
beautiful little Princess you are ! If I had not made up my
mind to make you my wife, I should roast you this moment
for breakfast ! You are so sweet ! "

The Princess pretended to be delighted by this com-
pliment. The Giant came nearer to take her hand and kiss
it The Princess said, " You have long been without a wife
to take care of you. Wash yourself with the water in the
bucket that I may comb your hair and help you to
dress."

So, beginning to wash his head, he sprinkled on it a little
of the water in the bucket, and instantly fell down dead upon
the ground. The Princess exclaimed, " Certainly, no man
had ever a dagger that could not stab him to death ! The
Giant has fallen a victim to his own wicked power ! "

The Sultan was in an ecstasy of joy when he saw that

the Giant was dead, and that his daughter was freed from

the dreadful fate that had been impending over her. He

received her with open arms, and embracing her tenderly

K 2

148 THE TALES OF THE SIXTY MANDARINS.

said, "My child, thou hast, indeed, made me and my
subjects happy for ever by a stroke of thy genius ! "

Then his Majesty returned to the city with his daughter,
and his subjects praised the Princess Dirnar for her strata-
gem, and spake of her everywhere as the benefactress of the
country. In the island of Java they celebrated, for a long
time after the event, a festival once a year in commemoration
of it, when a young lady, dressed as the Princess Dirnar,
would stand before a tall man in the grotesque attire of a
giant, and enact the scene ; while the Sultan, his Grand
Vizier, and the people stood at a distance watching the
whole proceedings with eagerness. After the overthrow of
the Giant, a procession would form round the lady in the
disguise of the Princess, with the Sultan and his courtiers
at its head, and the whole party would return to the city,
shouting, " Ye Javanese, call upon the Princess Dirnar
when ye are in trouble, and she will deliver you, even as
she delivered your fathers from the fell fiend Death-
Sprinkle ! "

The Prince, with a smile remarked, " Poor Death-
Spinkle was, indeed, a very unhappy lover. When he
fancied the joy he had hoped for was at hand, he was
sorely disappointed."

Another Mandarin, who heard this jocose observation
of the Prince, stood up and said, "Sire, Death-Sprinkle was,
indeed, as unhappy in his love as his brother Left-Whisker,
who lived in the island of Formosa."

The Prince laughed when he heard the name Left-
Whisker, and requested the Mandarin to relate all about
him without further delay.

The Mandarin narrated the story as follows : —

149

^torg of % diant

In the island of Formosa there lived a Giant who had
only the limbs and organs on his left side. Therefore, he

" HIS LEFT WHISKER, HOWEVER, WAS VERY LONG."

had not the right ear, the right eye, the right nostril, the
right whisker, the right lip, the right hand, and the right
leg. His left whisker, however, was very long, as if the

150 THE TALES OF THE SIXTV MANDARINS.

two whiskers had been growing into one. Therefore, he
was known all over the island as the Giant Left-Whisker.

Although he hobbled on one leg, smiled with half a lip,
smelt with a single nostril, saw with one eye, heard with
one ear, and had but one whisker to adjust with one hand,
yet he had a fancy that he was the most comely person ever
born on the island of Formosa. Although, as the people
said, he was as old as the mountains and streams, and had
been the terror of the island from time immemorial, yet he
had a belief that he was the youngest person on the island.
He showed no mercy whatever to those who expressed a
different opinion. But he had such a hideous appearance,
that people who saw him at once exclaimed, "What a
horrid monster ! " Instantly he pursued them with frightful
speed and put them to death.

Left-Whisker would go about the country from time to
time, to see if any young lady fell in love with him; for
he was very eager to get married, and often said to himself,
I do not wish to carry off a young lady and marry her. I
am comely, I am young. They say young ladies are fond
of comely youths. ' Thus some young lady will some day fall
in love with me, and accept me as her husband. So that,
if ever she should quarrel with me, I might be able to say,
" Against me never raise your voice ; for I am the husband
of your choice."

But instead of any young lady falling in love with Left-
Whisker, a great many people perished at his hands,
because, so soon as they saw him, they exclaimed, " What
a horrid monster ! "

There was an old hag in the island whose sons kept a
smithy. She said to herself, " Left- Whisker is mad after
young ladies ; but not one of them will ever come in his
way. In the meanwhile, people are perishing by hundreds.
Something must be done on their behalf."

THE GIANT LEFT-WHISKER. 151

So she posted herself in the way of Left-Whisker one
evening, and said, " Left- Whisker, I am comely, I am
young; take me for your wife."

Left-Whisker said, " Prove to me you are young, and I
will take you for my wife."

"Why, Left- Whisker," said the hag, "my great-grand-
father was killed by you, because he called you a monster.
He was born long after you ; and I was born, of course,
long after him. So am I not young enough to be your
wife?"

" Good ! " said Left-Whisker ; " now prove to me you
are comely."

"Why, Left-Whisker/' said the hag, "you hobble on
one leg, I walk on two. You smile with half a lip, I smile
with lips in perfect order. You smell with a single nostril,
I smell with two. You see with one eye, I see with two.
You hear with one ear, I hear with two "

Before the hag could finish her long-winded description
of her charms the Giant interrupted her, saying, "Well!
well ! Let me cut short your rigmarole by telling you that I
possess one thing which you have not."

" Ah, what is it, good Left- Whisker ? " said the hag, with
surprise.

" Why my manly, beautiful, long whisker," said Left-
Whisker, proudly adjusting that emblem of manliness and
beauty.

The hag acknowledged her defeat, and silently went
home.

The next day she presented herself before Left- Whisker
with two long whiskers, to his great astonishment.

" How did you get them ? " said Left- Whisker.

The hag replied, " The process is easy ; but it is possible
only to those who are really in love. I am in love with
you — ah, who would not love you, that sees your manly,

152 THE TALES OF THE SIXTY MANDARINS.

beautiful, long whisker ! — and so, I got the two whiskers in
no time."

Left-Whisker was eager to have his right whisker first.
" For," said he, " if one whisker of mine captivated one
young lady, two whiskers must enslave the hearts of an equal
number, so I shall have two wives instead of one. I will
put an arm over the shoulders of each. Ah ! that I can't. I
will put an arm over the shoulders of one, and a leg over the
shoulders of the other, and bid them dance and bid them
skip, while I smile and kiss each with half a lip." So he said
to the hag, " I must confess I am desperately in love with
you — do help me to get my right whisker."

The hag said, " The process may give you some pain.
Are you prepared to endure it ? "

Left-Whisker replied, "I am prepared to endure any
amount of pain for another whisker."

The hag then led the Giant to the smithy, and, taking up
a pair of heated tongs, bade her sons hold him tight, drew
the heated tongs in the form of a whisker on his right cheek,
and then thrust the instrument into his left eye, which, by
the way, was the only eye he had.

Poor LefWVhisker roared like thunder as he ran from
the smithy, shouting at intervals, "I shall have nothing
more to do with young ladies ! nothing more ! I say, nothing
more ! "

Having lost his only eye he did not know how to reach
his cave in the mountain. Nor is it known yet which way
he went. Some fancied that he plunged into the sea, which
he reached, and disappeared.

But this was a mere conjecture. For some people in
Formosa to this day maintain that Left-Whisker is trimming
his right whisker to make his debut again into the world of
beauty and fashion, as it exists on the island.

Be this as it may, the old hag was long known in the

THE HIVE OF HAPPY BEES. 153

island as the wife of Left-Whisker. If any young gentleman
fancied himself remarkably youthful and comely, people
would ask him to pay a visit to the wife of Left- Whisker, and
get his pretensions to youthfulness and comeliness tested by
her and her famous pair of tongs.

The Prince observed, " The ambition of the Giant to get
a suitable wife and settle down in life was, indeed, laudable.
The only pity was that nobody on the island chose to be
his wife."

This humorous remark excited the emulation of another
Mandarin, and he stood up saying, " Sire, some who wish to
get suitable wives never find their object fulfilled, while
those who do not really want them are compelled to have
them, even as the brothers who went by the name of the
Hive of Happy Bees."

The Prince requested the Mandarin to relate the story
of the Hive of Happy Bees, and he proceeded with it as
follows : —

In a certain country, not far from the Celestial Empire,
there were six dwarfs, who were brothers. They were born
in idleness, brought up in idleness, and lived in idleness,
so that it might be said of them that they breathed, moved,
and had their being in idleness. They had, at the same
time, plenty of money, so they lived very luxuriously.

What with idleness, what with their wealth and luxury, they
became very bulky. Some called them turnips, some called
them melons, and some called them pumpkins. But they
recked not. They continued to grow crosswise, till they
could hardly lift up their heads and look at the ceiling. What
little activity was in them gradually disappeared. Their

154 THE TALES OF THE SIXTY MANDARINS.

servants observed, " Formerly masters would come down to
the breakfast-parlour and have their breakfast there ; but
now they want it to be served in their bedroom."

Here it must be pointed out that all the brothers, who
loved one another tenderly, and who said they could not live
for one moment without seeing one another, occupied the
same bedroom, which they seldom left.

Thus, in course of time, they solved all those happy
problems of drones, which some eminent philosophers
of their school have summed up in the following dicta:
"Walking is better than running; standing better than
walking; sitting better than standing; lying better than
sitting ; and sleeping better than waking," and spent the
greater part of the day in sleep, each waking at intervals for
a moment or two to inquire how the rest were getting on —
thus graphically illustrating the truth of the maxim — the
activity of sluggards is slumber.

In this style they got on very well for a good long while,
everybody calling them, collectively, The Hive of Happy
Bees. It is yet a mystery why they were called bees while
actually they were such drones. Perhaps the name was
applied to them from their diminutive size.

Now it was a custom in that country that everybody
should be married while yet he was very young. It was
the highest praise that could possibly be bestowed upon
parents to say that they had married their children while
they were mere babies. So, be he poor or wealthy,
sickly or healthy, sane or insane, dwarf or giant, he must be
married by a certain age. Parents who, by any unforeseen
causes, doomed their children to celibacy beyond the
period, were considered unpardonably guilty by the com-
munity to which they belonged.

So the parents of the Six Happy Bees made up their
minds to marry them. Again, bulk was the standard of

THE HIVE OF HAPPY BEES. 155

beauty among the people. A lady might possess the most
charming face, the most elegant manners, the most valued
accomplishments, yet, if she was but lean, they unhesitatingly
called her ugly. A lady might possess none of these, yet, if
she had, as the poets of the country put it, a neck as thick
as a cabbage, a waist as round as a drum, and hands and
legs which rivalled the trunk and legs of an elephant, she
was sure to be called the greatest beauty of the land.

Hence, it was a common thing among the people to
speak of ladies as fat and fair. Again, the taller a lady
was, the comelier she was deemed to be ; so much so, that
they often expressed their admiration of the wisdom of the
parents of a man in these terms — " What a tall wife they
have given their son ! That is true parental kindness ! "

Therefore, the parents of the Six Happy Bees resolved
to marry them to six of the fattest, fairest, and tallest ladies
available among their connections. When all the pre-
liminary arrangements for the weddings had been made,
the priest came up to the Six Happy Bees, and said, " Now,
gentlemen, get up and have a shave," according to the
inevitable religious custom on such occasions.

The Six Bees, who did not wish to stir out for a trifling
operation like that — religious rite though it was deemed to
be — said, "Sire, be so good as to give yourself a shave, and
count it ours by proxy."

So the priest got himself shaved on their account. Then
the priest said, " Now, gentlemen, get up, and come to
church to be married."

They, who were eager to avoid this exertion also, if pos-
sible, said, "Sire, be so good as to celebrate the weddings
at church without our presence. We will count the brides
none the less our wives."

So they were married at church— at least, the brides
were married, without the bridegrooms by their side.

156 THE TALES OF THE SIXTY MANDARINS.

Then it was an indispensable rite in that country that,
while returning from church after marriage, the husbands
should kiss their wives on the thresholds of their houses,
and take them in.

So the priest went up to the Six Happy Bees, who still
kept rolling in their several beds, in their common bedroom,
and said, " Now, gentlemen, get up, and go down to kiss
your wives, who are waiting at the threshold."

" Ah, Sire ! " said the Six Happy Bees, " can't you go
through that part of the ritual also by proxy, without putting
us to any inconvenience ? "

" No — not I ! " exclaimed the relentless priest

So, in spite of themselves, the Six Happy Bees were
brought down to kiss their wives, whom they saw for the
first time in their lives.

But as the husbands were too short and fat, and the
wives too tail and fat, the former could neither rise high
enough to kiss their wives, nor the latter bend down low
enough to be kissed by their husbands ; so the Six Happy
Bees and their six unhappy wives are still at the thres-
hold of that house, in that country, trying to manage the
business somehow ; but, report says, yet without success.

The Prince said, " The feelings of the priest must have
been greatly shocked when the six idle youths said that he
might do the kissing also by proxy."

Another Mandarin stood up, and said, " Sire, his feel-
ings must have been shocked even as the feelings of the
good Cazi Jelaludien, when he heard that the miser, Sheik
Dulloo, of Mosul, was determined to go to heaven with his
mortal frame and the clothes he wore thereon."

The Prince requested the Mandarin to relate the story,
and he proceeded with it as follows :—

'57

n

In the city of Mosul there lived a miser, named Sheik
Dulloo, who was reputed to be very rich, although nobody
knew where he kept all his riches. Sheik Dulloo was a very
regular attendant at the great mosque of the city. He took
care to enter the holy edifice very early, that he might
safely avoid the numerous beggars who assembled at the
gate, clamouring for alms ; and, when the service was over,
lingered within till all the beggars had disappeared, after
receiving the gifts of the rest of the congregation.

Sheik Dulloo had an object in going to the mosque so
very regularly, for his prayers were to this effect : —

" Holy prophet, do intercede on my behalf with Allah
and His angels, and get me a passport to enter Paradise
with my mortal frame, and the clothes I wear on it."

People had often heard this prayer as Sheik Dulloo
ejaculated it, and wondered at its very odd character.
The beggars at the gate of the mosque, who often lay in
ambush and surrounded Sheik Dulloo, in spite of his
vigilance to avoid them, rallied him on the point. They
would exclaim, " Ah ! Sheik Dulloo, Sultan of Irem, when
will you give us alms ? "

Sheik Dulloo would reply, " After reaching Paradise."

The beggars would say, "Ah, that will never do. If
you go to Paradise without giving us alms, you will find all
the nymphs blind that fall to your share in the mansions
there."

" Why should they be blind? " would ask Sheik Dulloo.

The beggars would reply, " Their eyes are but the coins
the faithful give to the poor that they may live. The
brighter and larger their size, the larger and brighter the
eyes of the nymphs of Paradise that bring joy to the donor."

158 THE TALES o* ?M£ SIXTY MANDARINS.

To this Sheik Dulloo would invariably reply, " I dare
say, even in Paradise, everything can be had for a price.
So I will pay for the eyes of the houris, and save up money
to give them dowries ; and live with many a charming wife
under the shade of the tree of life."

One day, the great Cazi of Mosul chanced to hear the
conversation between Sheik Dulloo and the beggars. On
making inquiries of some of the members of the congre-
gation, they gave him an account of the aspirations of the
miser.

Now Cazi Jelaludien was a very pious Mussulman ; so
he was shocked to hear that the miser entertained such a
monstrous and impious idea.

That evening, therefore, when the prayers had been said,
and the members of the congregation were about to
disperse, he addressed them as follows : — " Brethren, there
is, I hear, a member of this holy congregation who has been
desirous of reaching heaven with this mortal frame and the
clothes thereon. I have been thinking about the subject
for some time past. I shall be happy to speak to him about
the result of my cogitations, should he step forth and stand
by my side for one moment."

Sheik Dulloo stepped forth.

The Cazi said, " Holy brother, your object is, indeed,
praiseworthy. But there are insurmountable obstacles in
your way. We may leave out of account the millions upon
millions of genii that guard the way to heaven, and carefully
force back to this world all who endeavour to journey on
the road with this mortal frame, for we may obtain the aid
of some saint, like Gazi Mustan or Gazi Mubarick, and throw
dust in the eyes of the genii. But who will help you when
you approach the river of fire with the bridge of hair over
it ? The flames in it are not like the flames in this mortal
world. They are intended by Allah and his Angels specially

THE MISER IN THE MOSQUE. 159

to purge mortals of all terrestrial traces and taints, should
they bear any, and then let them into the pure precincts of
Paradise. Should you approach the stream as you are,
your body and your clothes will be burnt to ashes in no time."

As Sheik Dulloo gave no indication of falling in with
this view of the Cazi, he snatched a torch from the hands of
a torch-bearer close by, and brandishing it before Sheik
Dulloo, exclaimed, "Ah, brother Sheik Dulloo, you see how
hot the flame of this torch is ! The flames of the stream on
the way to Paradise are a million times as hot and quick in
consuming things ! "

Whether the good Cazi Jelaludien did so by design, or
whether it was a mere accident, is yet a mystery. But some-
how, the torch, in one of the flourishes the Cazi made with
it, came in such close contact with the clothes on the mortal
frame of the immortal Sheik Dulloo, that instantly they
caught fire.

All the members of the congregation rushed to his aid,
and, in the twinkling of an eye, stripped him safe and gave
all his clothes to the Imam to be handed over to the beggars
at the gate, according to a time-honoured custom in Mosul,
that anything and everything catching fire in the great
mosque should go to the share of the poor waiting at its gate
for alms. The good Cazi Jelaludien threw his own mantle
over the naked person of Sheik Dulloo, and clothed him for
the nonce.

As the Iman threw the garments of Sheik Dulloo one
after another to the beggars at the gate, they received them
with great joy. The last, which was the shirt Sheik Dulloo
had worn next to his skin, was very heavy, and as it was
thrown to the beggars, the seams gave way and a shower of
gold pieces and gems of inestimable value fell to the ground.

The beggars had all the wealth, of course, according to
the time-honoured custom in Mosul. The members of th^

160 THE TALES OF THE SIXTY MANDARINS.

congregation stood mute with astonishment. The mystery
of Sheik Dulloo's aspirations about going to heaven with his
mortal frame and the clothes thereon was solved. The
story goes to say that Sheik Dulloo wished no more to
go to heaven with his mortal frame and the clothes thereon.
Nor did he go to the great mosque to say his prayers, nor
see the good Cazi Jelaludien ever after.

To this day, in the city of Mosul and its neighbourhood,
when a husband takes it into his head to play the miser,
saying, " Good wife, I have no money to spare," while his
wife asks him for clothes or jewels, the latter generally says,
"Ah, good husband, let me see Sheik Dulloo's shirt; "I
know the money is there," and suiting the action to the word
sets about scrutinising the garments of the bewildered
husband, and, of course, invariably finds the object of her
wishes there.

The Prince said, " It was very kind of the Cazi to have
pointed out to the miser the extreme folly of his aspirations ;
but it was too late when he perceived it."

Here another Mandarin stood up, and said, " Sire, the
miser was, indeed, too late in perceiving the value of the
advice given by the Cazi, even as the goblin perceived, when
it was too late, that he had assumed the wrong guise, when
the Cat Gunduple made a morsel of him."

The Prince requested the Mandarin to narrate the story,
and he proceeded with it as follows : —

Cat (Smtbiiplte attb tljt

In the Island of Borneo there was a Goblin named
Pasangu, who delighted in deceiving children in the follow-
ing manner. Whenever a number of them joined together

THE CAT AND THE GOLDEN MOUSE. 161

to play, he would assume the form of some child that had
received a severe beating, and stand sobbing and crying at a
distance.

Instantly the children would say, " Ah, poor little thing !
Some wicked boy has given it a beating ! " and ask, " Where
is the boy ? "

At this Pasangu would cry louder with a more woeful
face. The children would say, " Don't cry — do tell us
where the boy is — now don't — there is a dear ! "

Pasangu would continue shouting all kinds of in-
articulate things after the manner of little folk in that
sad predicament, and ultimately point to some quarter at
a distance.

The children would say, " The little dear has received a
thrashing from some wicked boy over there." Instantly
some of their number, resolving to avenge the wrongs of the
little dear that had got a thrashing from the wicked boy
over there, would follow their dependent with that spirit of
chivalrous sympathy which characterises children all the
world over. As many as thus followed him became the
victims of Pasangu for the day.

There was an orphan boy in the village who was utterly
lame, and who was maintained by the people. His only
duty was to see that the children went to the playground and
returned safely. He was generally carried to the playground
by his little friends and deposited on a high mound, from
which he witnessed their sports. He had a cat named
Gunduple, who was his constant companion, and who
amused him by all kinds of sportive tricks.

The boy would say, " Now, Gunduple, play at catching
mice ! "

Instantly, Gunduple would pretend to have seen mice
before it, and, chasing them up and down, kill every one of
his imaginary victims.

L

162 THE TALES OF THE SIXT\ MANDARINS.

Then the boy would say, " Now, Gunduple, there is a
rat in the hole ! "

Instantly, the cat would pretend to have discovered the
hole, and go round it sprinkling imaginary grain. After this
it would wait at some distance for the rat which was
expected to come out for the grain, and then, pretending to
have seen it, dart at a brick or broken tile, and bring it to
the boy, as if it were a rat.

This lame boy the people of the village considered
responsible for the children that disappeared from time to
time ; so they gave him a good beating one day, saying,
" You are a helpless orphan. We help you that you may
take care of our children when they play. Why don't you
find out the goblin that devours them ? "

The lame boy said to himself, "Well, I have neither father
nor mother, nor brother nor sister, so if I cry, nobody will
ask why. I must be bold, like a man that is old. Now, these
people think I am a burden on them. I must see that they
don't think so hereafter." So he replied, " I have neither
father nor mother, nor brother nor sister. I have a cat, so
I may go where I like. If you promise to give me a
house and a hundred acres of land, I will kill the goblin.
If you say you won't — why then, I won't ! "

The people said, " If you kill the goblin, we will give
you a house and a hundred acres of land."

The boy seemed to consider the question for a moment,
and, with an angry face, said, " Well, I think I had better not
kill the giant, specially when I think of the beating I got
from you," and, calling to his cat, prepared to creep out of
the village.

The villagers, with one voice, said, " Now don't go with-
out killing the goblin; we will give you the house and the
hundred acres at once." So they gave him what he wanted
that very moment.

THE CAT AND THE GOLDEN MOUSE. 163

The next day, at the playground, the boy said, " Now,
my good friends, there is a goblin here who can assume
every form but that of a mouse. So remember that every
thing strange but a mouse should at once rouse your
suspicions."

Pasangu said to himself, " I can take any form I like ;
but the boy says I can't be a mouse, so I must take the form
of a mouse, if I wish to avoid suspicion. Why, then I shall
be a golden mouse, and lead all the children away from the
place. Not a single child will turn to his house till he has
caught the golden mouse."

"THE CAT SPRANG AT THE GOLDEN MOUSE."

The greed of the goblin being thus excited to an inor-
dinate extent, he became a golden mouse with a pretty tail,
which was very long and bright, and with nice little bells round
his neck. The children exclaimed with one voice, " Ah !
what a pretty mouse ! Why, it is a golden mouse ! Without
it not one of us will turn towards his house ! "

The lame boy said to his cat. " Hollo, Gunduple, there
is a golden mouse for you to-day ! "

Instantly, the cat sprang at the golden mouse and made
a morsel of it. When it was too late the goblin exclaimed,
" Ah, it was indeed unwise to have assumed this guise
in the presence of a cat, which was ready to devour its
victim ! "

The boy had already got the house and the hundred
L 2

164 THE TALES OF THE SIXTY MANDARINS.

acres. Now he got the title — Lord of the Cat Gunduple
that killed the Goblin Pasangu when he became the golden
mouse. They say Gunduple was long eager to get another
golden mouse of the kind, but was not successful ; for in
the island of Borneo none ever met in his house with a
marvellous golden mouse.

The Prince remarked, " The lame boy was a knowing
little fellow. You can hardly imagine that one of his age
and circumstances would be so provident as to get the house
and the acres before actually achieving the feat for which
they were meant as a reward."

Here another Mandarin, who was watching for an
opportunity to amuse the Prince with a story, stood up and
said, " Sire, knowing boys, no doubt, do well, provided they
are not knowing like Uzbec ' I know.' "

" Who was he ? " asked the Prince, with great curiosity,
and the Mandarin proceeded with the story as follows : —

ItttU m?b« "1 mnofar."

In the province of Ajerbizan there was a poor tailor
who had a son named Uzbec. This little boy of ten said to
himself, " Men know : women know : why should not boys
know ? Whenever they say, ' O, he is but a boy, he knows
nothing,' it simply throws me into a passion. I will not say,
for one moment, ' I do not know,' come what will." So he
got into the habit of replying, " I know," in connection with
everything said to him.

His father remarked, " My dear boy, you are young, and
utterly inexperienced in the ways of the world. If you
continue saying ' I know,' without endeavouring to know
before telling people you know, you will be counted a

LITTLE UZBEC " I KNOW" 165

very presumptuous little fellow, and every one will shun
you."

But little Uzbec said, " I care not what they say of me.
I would rather be called a knowing and presumptuous little
fellow, than a stupid, modest youth." This made his father
utterly hopeless of himself amending his son's conduct, so
he took him one day to a pedagogue, who was said to have
acquired wonderful skill in training boys, and said, "Sir,
will you set my boy right ? "

The pedagogue said, " Don't put me any questions on
the point. Hand over your boy and go home. Come back
to-morrow, and see if he is not quite a different boy."

The tailor said, "But Uzbec is a very obstinate little
fellow ; how will you set him right so soon ? "

The pedagogue said, " The more the wildness and
obstinacy of the boy, the less the time I take in taming him.
My brother is a tamer of horses : I am a tamer of boys.
He uses the whip : I use the birch rod. He breaks the
mettle of wild horses : I break the mettle of wild boys. We
were born very nearly under the same star."

" Of course you are never needlessly rough to boys,"
said the tailor.

"Well," said the pedagogue, "as to that, I may say I
tame them in the politest way. I am rough only when they
are rough. As the good old proverb says, ' When they play
the chick, I play the cock ; but when they play the cock, I
play the kite.' " Then he turned to Uzbec and said, " you
know that — don't you ? "

Uzbec said, demurely, " I know."

The tailor went home, leaving Uzbec with the peda-
gogue. After a while the pedagogue said, " Uzbec, my boy,
you know how to play at catching the crane all day — do you
not?"

" I know," was the reply.

i66

THE TALES OF THE SIXTY MANDARINS.

The pedagogue then bade Uzbec lift up his right leg
behind, and bending his body, put his right thumb on the
floor— thus representing the outlines of a crane standing on
one leg.

Poor Uzbec could not disobey, because he said he knew
how to catch the crane all day. So he was catching the crane
all day. The wife of the pedagogue looked after the com-

" THE PEDAGOGUE THEN BAD* UZBECK LIFT UP HIS RIGHT LEG. '

forts of the boys who boarded at the school. In the evening
the pedagogue put a note to her in the hands of, Uzbec,
saying, " You know what is written in it, do you not ?"

" I know," said Uzbec, and gave the note to the wife of
the pedagogue.

She gave all the other boys their dinner, and said to
Uzbec, "The note says that you are not to have your
dinner, and that you are aware of it."

" I know," said Uzbec, and went to bed.

But soon hunger pinched him hard. He went into the
pantry to see if he could get anything to eat. As he was
going out in another direction, after his fruitless search iu

LITTLE UZBEC " I KNOW" 167

the pantry, the housemaid, who had been watching him,
said, " You know what there is in your way — don't you ? "

"I know," said Uzbec, and proceeding a few steps
further, tumbled into a deep sink, and stood buried up to
the neck in the mire. The cries of the housemaid brought
down the pedagogue, his wife, and all the boys boarding in
the house. They laughed outright at the ludicrous position
in which poor Uzbec had placed himself, and helped him
out of the sink. The housemaid washed him, saying, l( Ah,
if you had told me you did not know, I should have instantly
informed you of the sink."

When Uzbec went to bed he could not sleep. He said
to himself, " My muscles were very nearly cracked by
catching the crane all day. Then I had no dinner. When I
went out in quest of some food, I fell into that horrid sink
and stood buried up to the neck — the laughing-stock of my
comrades, the pedagogue, and his wife, not to speak of the
housemaid, who pitied me so much. Who knows how
many such sinks there are, perhaps one at every turn ! "

This last thought made him tremble. Then with
difficulty he composed himself to sleep, dreaming all night
of the sink and its horrors. The next morning the peda-
gogue said to Uzbec, " My good boy, all yesterday you were
engaged in the game of catching the crane. To-day you
will play at leaping the fence. You know it — don't you ? "

Uzbec replied, with great humility, " I do not know."

Instantly the pedagogue sent for the tailor, and handing
over the boy, said, " You know I remarked the more the
wildness and obstinacy of the boy the sooner I could tame
him. Now, here is your son, who has fully answered my
expectations."

The tailor wishing to test this, asked Uzbec, " Do you
know how you will get on in future ? "

'• I do not know," was the modest reply.

i68 THE TALES OF THE SIXTY MANDARINS.

Father and son went home together, and that day
forward Uzbec was one of the most intelligent and modest
boys in Ajerbizan. When people asked him questions at
random about things he did not know, saying, " Do you
know that?" — "Do you know this?" he would pause
before giving a reply, muttering to himself: "Ah, let me
first know if there is a sink in the turn."

If people asked why he had grown so tardy in giving
replies to queries, he would exclaim, " Ah, there may be a
sink in the turn."

The Prince remarked, "Well, it was by bitter experience
that Uzbec ' I know,' became Uzbec ' I don't know.' "
Before the Prince could proceed further, another Mandarin
stood up, and said, " Sire, it is experience that gives us a real
knowledge of things, and helps us to form a correct opinion
of the good and evil in them, even as the savage King
Amambeeni did."

The Prince requested the Mandarin to tell him the
story, and he proceeded with it as follows : —

0f

Far to the east of the Celestial Empire there was an
island in which all men lived as brothers, and all women as
sisters. Each lived in a shed which he called a house, had
a mat which he called a bed, and a piece of timber which
he called a pillow. Every man had a wife, and every woman
had a husband. So there were neither old bachelors nor
old maids on the island.

Any one might go into the shed of another, and have
his meals. Nobody called whatever he had his own. It
was the common property of all ; and nobody had anything

THE DREAM OF THE SAVAGE KING. 169

which every other person on the island had not. Each
wore the skin of a tiger round his loins, and carried a spear
and shield to hunt in the woods, all sharing the spoils of
the chase equally.

Every one on the island lived a hundred years. When
his lifetime approached its end, he dressed himself in his
tiger-skin garments, took up his spear and shield, and, with
his wife by his side, said, " Death, now you may approach
me ! " and was gathered unto his fathers.

This happy island was known among its inhabitants as
Andango, or the Island. of Contented People. But the rest
of the world, and especially the people of the Celestial
Empire, called it the Island of the Tiger Skin Savages.

They had a king named Amambeeni, which, in their
language, meant the King of the Contented People. His
office was nominal, there being nothing to be done by way
of administration — no post, no police, no revenue, no
judges, no ministers, no ambassadors ; because no letters, no
thieves, no taxes, no quarrels, no politics, no international
relations. The King lived in a shed like other people, and
went round eating where he liked, and sleeping where he
liked.

This King Amambeeni had long heard that there was
such a thing as Civilisation in the Celestial Empire, and he
was very eager to know all about the good and evil in it.
But, as he had no junks in which he could make a
voyage to our shores, he contented himself with the thought
that some day the Spirit of Civilisation — for these savages
believed that everything had a spirit presiding over it — would
pay him a visit, and give him some idea of the good and
evil under its control.

One day this King Amambeeni was on the sea-shore,
playing with the children of the island. His Majesty,
according to his wont, made himself one of them, now

170

THE TALES OF THE SIXTY MANDARINS.

pursuing the crabs that disappeared in the holes which they
dug with wonderful rapidity; now building baby houses
of sand, with shells for windows, and doing a great many
other things to amuse his juvenile friends.

Just then, a junk appeared in the horizon, and soon a
boat put to shore from it.

A fair young lady, with other ladies, who appeared to be
her companions, landed from the boat, and, addressing
Amambeeni, said, "Good Amambeeni, I am Civilisation.

"KING AMAMBEENI WAS ON THE SEA-SHORE" (p. 169).

I was born in the Celestial Empire, and have long flourished
in it. These are my handmaids — wealth, fashion, and many
others, as you see."

Before she could finish Amambeeni interrupted her,
saying, "Ah, I have long heard of you. I am glad to see
you after all. Now, tell me what you can do ? "

The lady replied, " I can change the condition of your
subjects completely, and make them all happy."

Amambeeni said, "Well, there is good as well as evil in
you, as I have been told. Now, let us have some experience
of the latter, and I shall be able to tell you whether we shall
have you here, or send you back in your junk to the Celestial
Empire."

Instantly the lady passed her hands over the eyes of the

THE DREAM OF THE SAVAGE KING. 171

Savage King, when he fell into a slumber, and began to
dream as follows : —

One morning, he rose from bed, and, girding the tiger-
skin round his loins, came out of his bed, when two tall
men, dressed like the Pekin police, took hold of him, saying,
''You have come out without your trousers and other
clothes ; now, come to the lock-up, or give bail."

Amambeeni knew not who the men were, nor what bail
meant.

They said, " There is the'good Lawyer Mandarin, Tokiliti,
close by ; he may help you."

Tokiliti was one of his subjects, who had asked him
already to spend the day with him at his shed. So he went
to him, and said, " Ah, Tokiliti, these men have taken hold
of me for some reason that I cannot understand, and they
want me to give them something which I neither have nor
ever heard of in my life ! "

Tokiliti said, " Address me with the respect due to my
position as a Mandarin. I am not plain Tokiliti, but
Atahualpa Li Hung Tokiliti."

The King could not believe him, so he said, " Ah,
Tokiliti, did you not beg of me to spend the day with you,
and have a draught of milk from the new cow that you
have, like every other subject of mine in the island?"

Tokiliti said he did not remember a word of the kind,
and sent Amambeeni away.

When the men left the house of Tokiliti with the King,
he said he felt hungry. So they took him to a house where
they sold food, and gave him his breakfast.

Amambeeni wondered all the while why they wanted
so many dishes and plates, while the chop-sticks with which
he had to convey the food to his mouth puzzled him
completely.

Then the men conducted him through the streets, which

172 THE TALES OF THE SIXTY MANDARINS.

had houses, mansions, and palaces on both sides, in lieu of
the sheds of his subjects. A great many people were going
about in quest of amusement.

The King asked, "Are they not going to the sea-shore to
pursue the crabs, to build baby houses, to play at hide and
seek, or wolf and lamb, or cock and kite ? "

The men said that they were going to do nothing of the
kind, and described to the King a great many amusements
of people in the Celestial Empire, of which he did not
understand a word.

At every turn he found places of public resort, where
people drank intoxicating liquors and smoked opium ; some
laughing, some singing, some dancing, some discussing ab-
struse questions of philosophy, some deciding with wonder-
ful ease and lucidity the most knotty points of law and
politics, while others were quarrelling, swearing, and blas-
pheming.

While he was observing these spectacles, two men put
two bills into the hands of Amambeeni. One was from
Tokiliti, for having admitted Amambeeni to a consultation,
for he was a lawyer ; and the other from the keeper of the
great house where he had his breakfast — one of the items in
the latter bill being, " For looking out at the window and
telling Amambeeni that it was not raining, three, four,
five."

Of course Amambeeni had no money, so they took him
to a money-lender, who had put up a notice saying, " From
five to five hundred advanced daily without security ; no
fees whatever."

Amambeeni went in and asked for a loan.

A man with a long pig-tail, and a pair of whiskers vieing
with the pig-tail in length, said, " We can't attend to your
application unless you pay down two, five, eight."

But as Amambeeni had no money whatever, he could

THE DREAM OF THE SAVAGE KING. 173

not pay the money-lender's fee. So he sent away the two
men with their bills.

Now the King requested the men to take him to the
lock-up, by way of his shed, that he might tell his wife
about his fate, and then go with them.

Accordingly, when they came to the shed, a number of
men, who called themselves law officers, came to afford
relief to the two men, whose bills Amambeeni had sent
back, and drove out the wife and children of the King, and
distrained what property he had, saying, " Every man ought
to pay his debts first, and then feed his wife and children."

Being unable to endure the sight, Amambeeni turned
away from the spot with the two men, who took him to
their station, and thrusting him into a close room, locked it.

Just then, the King awoke from his dream.

The lady said, " All that you have seen is but a page
in that chapter of my book which represents the dark side.
If you will permit me to subject you to a series of such
dreams, you will be able to know all about both the
sides."

Amambeeni said, " There was nothing very remarkable
in the dream I saw, beyond a series of evils which were the
result of overstepping the bounds of simplicity and content.
We have had but one side in this island, and have never
had any occasion to dream of the two sides you speak of.
Let us therefore live contented with it."

So he sent away the lady and her companions in the
junk, and went into the island to assure himself that what
he had seen was nothing but a dream, saying, " Ah ! I had
long imagined that the Spirit Civilisation, who flourished
in the Celestial Empire, could give us more simplicity
and, content if possible, but, the brief experience I had of
her influence has convinced me that I would do well never
to think of her again."

174 THE TALES OF THE SIXTY MANDARINS.

The Prince said, "Well, Civilisation, as we all know,
can never rest content. She is a Spirit that by the aid
of Knowledge, her ally, goes on creating new wants, and
gratifying them. In proportion to the progress we make,
our desires multiply, and seek a thousand gratifications, to
which we were strangers before."

Here another Mandarin, who wished to tell the Prince
a story, said, " Sire, it would, indeed, be a blessing if some
one could devise the means of bringing the aspirations of
the Spirit within reasonable bounds. But we must all
admit that she cannot be so easily disposed of. She is not
a lady as simple-hearted as the daughter of the Imam of
Muscat, that we might get some Talib with ten eyes, and
gratify her ambition once for all."

The Prince requested the Mandarin to tell him all about
the wonderful individual he had referred to as Talib with
ten eyes, and the Mandarin related the story as follows : —

0f

In the city of Muscat there was a boy named Talib, who
had lost an eye while yet a child. His parents were very
poor, so they could not send him to school. Talib, there-
fore, spent a great part of his time in playing with .the boys
of the neighbourhood. When he came home, he helped his
mother in her domestic duties.

One day, his mother said to him, " My dear Talib, you
have been growing up pretty quickly. Very soon you will
be a man. I shall have to get you a wife suited to our
position in life. But, as you are blind of one eye, nobody
will give you his daughter in marriage, unless he sees you
are rich. Now, what are you going to do ? Will you make

THE TEN-EYED YOUTH. 175

a fortune and secure a wife, or remain poor and un-
married ? "

Talib replied, "Mother, I do not care to have a wife so
soon. I shall wait till I find some one who will marry
me as I am."

His mother said, "Then you may wait like the daughter
of our Imam, who has long remained single, because she
wishes to marry a man with ten eyes."

Talib said, " I daresay she will find him some day."

His mother replied, " On that day you may hope to find
your wife also," meaning, of course, that the Princess would
never get a husband, and Talib would never get a wife.

Some time after Talib went out for a stroll in the streets.
In one of the thoroughfares he saw a crowd assembled round
two men, one of whom was reading a proclamation, and the
other beating a great gong, to attract the attention of people
passing by. The proclamation was to this effect : — The
Imam of Muscat will be obliged to any person who will
introduce to him a young man with ten eyes, whom he
wishes to make his son-in-law. It is no matter what his
position is. Be he rich or poor, high or low, he will be at
once accepted by the Imam and his daughter, provided he
has that one qualification — ten eyes.

Talib stepped forth and said, " I am prepared to
introduce to the Imam of Muscat the young man he wants.
Take me to his presence." The reader of the proclamation
took him to the Imam, who received him with every mark
of attention, and entered into a long conversation with him.

In the course of this conversation Talib asked the
Imam, " Is the Princess well educated ? "

The Imam, being desirous of recommending his
daughter's attainments, gave a long list of sciences and arts,
in all of which, he said, she was a great proficient.

" For one moment," said Talib, to the Imam, l< you

176 THE TALES OF THE SIXTY MANDARINS.

must leave me face to face with the Princess, and retire,
otherwise I cannot hope to introduce the young man to
you."

The Imam did so.

Talib, addressing the Princess, who stood on the other
side of a screen, said, " Madam, you are well acquainted
with arithmetic — is it not ? "

" Very well, indeed ! " said the Princess.

" Should 1 demonstrate to you, arithmetically, that I
have ten eyes, will you take me ? " said Talib.

" With pleasure ; for nothing can be more reasonable,"
said the Princess.

"You won't raise any needless objections? " said Talib.

" None whatever," said the Princess, " if you demon-
strate to me that you have ten eyes."

Talib said, " Now then, take a piece of parchment •
remove this screen for one second, and carefully looking at
my eyes, note down what I say."

The Princess took up the parchment, and removing the
screen, looked at his face.

" Now," said Talib, " one of my eyes is all right. How
would you represent it arithmetically ? "

"As one," said the Princess.

" Good ! " said Talib. " Put it down— one."

The Princess put it down.

TaliD said, <{ You see the other eye is gone. Now, tell
me how you would represent it arithmetically ? "

" As zero," said the wondering Princess.

" Good ! " said Talib. " Put it down— zero."

The Princess put it down.

" Now," said Talib, " good Princess, do me the favour of
reading the number of my eyes arithmetically."

" Ten," said the astonished Princess.

" Give me your hand," said Talib ; and the Princess did

THE SULTAN AND THE GIANT. 177

give him her hand, as she was tired of waiting for a husband
so long.

The Imam was surprised at his daughter having taken
for her husband a man with one eye; while all the while she
had been expressing her determination to marry a man with
ten eyes.

But the Princess explained to her father how Talib had
ten eyes really.

The Imam accepted the explanation, and accepted Talib
as his son-in-law, because he had so successfully solved the
long-felt difficulty about getting a man with ten eyes.

The Prince remarked, "She was, indeed, a happy
Princess, that was long in quest of a husband with ten eyes,
and eventually married a man with one eye. But the arith-
metic of Talib was unimpeachable, so she must have been
constrained to take him."

This humorous remark elicited the following observation
from another Mandarin : —

" Sire, the arithmetic of Talib was, indeed, as unimpeach-
able as the judgment of Sultan Bey Bey."

The Prince requested the Mandarin to relate the story,
and he proceeded with it as follows : —

0f Sultan f§*ir !i> antr ffa> ©iant

In a certain village near the city of Algiers, there was a
boy who often said to his playmates, in sport, " The whole
country belongs to me. I am the Sultan. You are my
ministers. All the rest are my subjects."

They would reply, " Well, the Sultan of Algiers is the
Bey ; you are his Sultan ; so you are the Bey Bey."
M

178

THE TALES OF THE SIXTY MANDARINS.

Hence, the boy acquired the name of Sultan Bey Bey in
the neighbourhood in which he lived. In the mountains,
near Algiers, lived a Giant, who was very fond of eating little
children. He would assume some tempting form, and lie
in their way. When they approached him, he would cry,

HE WOULD .

LIE IN THEIR WAY."

" Hum Haw," and move towards the mountains. The
children would follow, fancying it was some curious animal.

He would lead them a great way into the mountains,
crying, " Come, good children, Hum Haw ; don't fear, good
children, Hum Haw; pretty dear children, Hum Haw."
When they went sufficiently near, he would devour them.
Their parents often thought that the lions, which abounded
in the mountains near Algiers, carried off the children.

Sultan Bey Bey was very fond of playing at " Judge and
Thief," assembling a number of children around him to
help him in the game. He displayed such sagacity and

THE SULTAN AND THE GIANT. 179

wisdom in the character of a judge, which he invariably
assumed, that the Sultan of Algiers heard of it with sur-
prise, and expressed a desire to see him while discharging
his functions in that capacity in the game. His Majesty
appointed a day. A great pavilion was erected on a plain
near the village, with seats for his Majesty and his courtiers,
while Bey Bey and his officers had a portion of it set apart
to themselves. All the children in the neighbourhood were
also invited to be present.

. Hum Haw fancied it was a very favourable opportunity
to get a good number of children into his power ; so he
presented himself in the form of a little thief. Instantly
the children who acted as policemen arrested him, and
took him before the judge, with a chain round his neck.
The other end of the chain was passed over a branch of
a tree in front of the pavilion, and held by the officer who
was the head of the police.

Bey Bey was very actively engaged in his duties. A
great many thieves were brought before him, and after due
inquiry convicted and punished according to the extent of
their guilt. The Sultan and his courtiers were in raptures
from time to time, as they heard his decisions. When Hum
Haw was brought before him, he looked at him attentively,
and said to the officer, " Keep him under the tree till I
should be able to attend to him."

Giants, as a rule, are very greedy and thoughtless, so the
mouth of Hum Haw watered at the sight of so many children
around him, and he exultingly said to himself, in a whisper,
" You have got them, Hum Haw ; you will eat them, Hum
Haw ! "

Now the head of the police, who had been listening to
his words, communicated the same, secretly, to the judge.
But he pretended to take no notice whatever of the words
of the officer.
M 2

i So THE TALES OF THE SIXTY ^fA^'DARr?rs.

Addressing Hum Haw, he said, " Now, my good fellow,
will you speak the truth, and point out the place where you
have hidden the stolen property, and be treated leniently •
or would you like to have the chain hanging round your
neck tightened till you die ? "

Hum Haw said to himself, with a laugh, '• The children
I ate are the property I stole, I cannot give them back —
can I ? " and turning to the judge, said, " It was hunger that
compelled me to steal. What I stole I ate ; so the property
went into my stomach. If any of your officers can get in
and see, I shall, indeed, be happy to let them in ! "

Here Hum Haw put out his long tongue, and smacked
his lips, saying to himself that he would relish extremely
sending in as many children as chose to go into his stomach
to search for others that had gone before !

The tone and character of the thiefs reply convinced
Bey Bey that he was Hum Haw. He waited, therefore, for
a while before pronouncing judgment The Sultan and his
courtiers were eagerly watching him. After mature delibera-
tion, the judge said, " You refused to tell us what you stole.
For aught we know, you might have stolen men, women,
and children, and devoured them like the Giant Hum Haw.
Therefore, we sentence you to be hanged by the neck."

Instantly, the officer of police pulled up the chain over
the branch of the tree, and the Giant swung in the air, crying,
44 1 am no thief! I am no thief! I am the Giant Hum
Haw ! I am the Giant Hum Haw ! "

The judge replied, " I am no judge 1 I am no judge !
I am the boy Bey Bey ! I am the boy Bey Bey ! — many of
whose companions you have eaten ! n

All the other children danced round the tree: one of
them shouting, " The Giant-thief, Hum Haw, has been
hanged by the boy-judge, Bey Bey!" and the rest repeating
the chorus, " The boy-judge, Bey Bey ! "

TtiE STORY OF THE GOLDEN SLIPPER. 181

The Sultan was very glad to see that the boy Bey Bey
had, by his sagacity, found out the real character of the
Giant when he appeared as a little thief, and got rid of him
according to the rules of justice.

He took him to his palace, and after giving him a sound
education, made him a great judge. The boy who acted
as the officer of police became, in course of time, the head
of the police in the kingdom of Algiers.

The Prince remarked, " The guise of a thief which Hum
Haw assumed led to the fatal result which he could not
avoid "

Before the Prince could proceed further, another Man-
darin, who was eager to tell him a story, stood up and said,
"Sire, the guise that Hum Haw assumed proved fatal to
him, even as the guise of a female slave, assumed by the
Giant in the story of the Golden Slipper from the Invisible
Castle, led to his own destruction eventually."

The Prince, in a severe tone, requested the Mandarin to
tell his tale, and he told it as follows : —

rrf ilj* (golton ^Iipp*r fr0m
CastU.

In the Shan country there was a Giant who lived in a
castle in the air, which nobody could see. He went into
the country from time to time and carried off the most
beautiful and accomplished maidens, saying, " When I shall
have collected a thousand, I will marry them all, and be
known as the Giant with a thousand wives. I shall have ten
thousand children, who will overrun the whole of the Shan
country, and rule over k/

1 82 THE TALES OF THE SIXTY ' MANDARINS.

Whenever he went into the country and carried off a
maiden, the bravest man in the neighbourhood would pursue
him some distance, when, all of a sudden, he would go up
into his castle, exclaiming, " Now, I have got into my castle
in the air, those that pursue me beware ! "

In this manner he had collected nine hundred and ninety-
nine maidens, whom he confined closely in his castle, and
said to himself, " One more is wanting. When she is
brought in, I shall at once celebrate my wedding. But who
is this one ? Let me see — Varagun, the daughter of the
King of the Shan country, they say, is the most beautiful
and accomplished Princess in the whole world. She shall
complete the number."

Accordingly, the Giant went to the palace of the King in
the disguise of a female slave, and told the Princess that her
mother wished to see her in the garden. When the Princess
come to the garden, the slave said that the Queen was in
the park close by. When the Princess came to the park?
the slave asked her to look up. Instantly she found herself
in the castle of the Giant, to which he conveyed her, throwing
off his disguise in the twinkling of an eye.

He said, " I am the King of this castle and the regions
in the air over which it roams. You will be my Queen, and
the mistress of the nine hundred and ninety-nine fair ladies
confined in these rooms, who will also be my wives."

The Princess at once perceived that the Giant intended
to marry her and the other ladies confined in the rooms ; so,
suppressing her emotions, she said, " Mighty Monarch of
the Invisible Castle, I am, indeed, proud of the honour you
wish to confer on me. The nine hundred and ninety-nine
ladies ought to be equally proud of the honour your Majesty
will soon confer on him. But before actually uniting my
destiny with your Majesty's, I wish to know where the secret
principle of your life is."

THE STORY OF THE GOLDEN SLIPPER. 183

The Giant said, " But before I tell you where it is, let
me know your object in asking for the information."

The Princess replied, "Illustrious Monarch of the In-
visible Castle, when we begin to love a person, we are
naturally concerned about his safety. If 1 should know that
the principle of your life is safe, I shall be free from all
anxiety on that score."

The Giant said, "Princess, you need not be afraid. It
is perfectly safe within a toad which lives in the bowels of a
great rock by the summer palace of your father. If the
animal receive an injury, I shall at once receive the same.
Should it perish, I shall not live a moment thereafter. So I
shall live for many a long year to come — ay, till our great-
great-grandchildren shall have been succeeded by their
great-great-grandchildren, on the throne of the Shan country,
and even thereafter for many a long year."

At this the Princess appeared to have been eased of a
great burden that had been oppressing her mind — as, indeed,
she was. Then she said, " I am, indeed, thankful to your
Majesty for the information. There is another piece of in-
formation that I long to possess. How can this Invisible
Castle be made to alight on earth ? "

The Giant said, " There are nine hundred and ninety-
nine corners in the Castle ; at each corner there is a ring.
In the great central hall of the Castle there is another ring,
on which all the nine hundred and ninety-nine depend. If
a person should stand in each corner, while another stands
in the hall, and all pull up the one thousand rings at one
and the same time, the Castle will go down to the ground.
So soon as it touches the earth, the edifice will be visible
to all."

Some time after, while the Giant went out, the Princess
took up a golden slipper which she had worn, and opening
it, put a little scroll containing a minute description of the

i&4 THE TALES OF THE Sfxrr MANDARINS.

life-principle of the Giant, and stitching the slipper partly,
sat brooding over it in a very melancholy mood.

The Giant, on his return, finding the Princess in great
grief, said, " Dear Varagun, soul of my soul, why are you
so sad?"

Varagun replied, "Alas, this slipper is a present from my
dear mother. I tore it to-day by an accident. I was eager
to wear it on our wedding-day ; but all my hopes have been
blasted."

The Giant said, " If you have set your heart on this
slipper to such an extent, I shall get it repaired for you this
instant."

The Princess replied, " But the only person who knows
how to repair it is my dear mother."

The Giant said, " Why, then, I shall see that it is repaired
by your mother this instant." So the Giant went out with
the slipper, in the disguise of a female slave, to have it
mended at the palace of the King.

When the Queen saw the slipper, she concluded that it
was from her beloved daughter. So she took it into her
chamber, and carefully examining the inside, found the
scroll. As soon as she finished reading it, she told the
female slave, " Now, you may go, and return for the slipper
about this time to-morrow." Then she laid the scroll before
the King. His Majesty instantly set about searching for the
toad in the great rock by his summer palace.

On returning to the Castle, the Giant said, " This even-
ing I shall celebrate my wedding." Accordingly, he prepared
a great feast. In the great central hall of the Castle, which
was splendidly decorated for the occasion, a long table was
laid out, covered with the choicest viands. On the side-
board were the richest wines.

The nine hundred and ninety-nine maidens sat round the
table with melancholy faces, and the Princess Varagun sat

THE STORY OF THE GOLDEN SLIPPER, 185

by the Giant, on his right hand. After the dinner, the
Giant rose to take the Princess by the hand, for the first
time, as his wife. But scarcely had he lifted up his right
hand for the purpose, when it fell from his shoulder.

Then the Giant lifted up his left hand, and it shared the
same fate. In a few more seconds his whole body fell in
various pieces on the floor. At each limb he lost the Giant
roared louder than thunder, and the nine hundred and ninety-
nine maidens trembled like the drops on a lotus leaf.

The Princess Varagun knew that the King, her father,
had seized the toad and commenced the work of destroying
it and the Giant at one and the same time. For the Giant
had already pointed out that any injury inflicted on the toad
was sure to affect him equally, and that when the toad
perished he would be no more. So she stood firm.

When the Giant had been completely destroyed, the
Princess and the nine hundred and ninety-nine young ladies
threw out the pieces of his body and cleared the hall. Then
Varagun explained to the nine hundred and ninety-nine
maidens the secret of the thousand rings, and bade each
stand at a corner and pull up the ring at a signal from her
from the central ring.

They all pulled up the rings at one and the same time.
The Castle moved slowly towards the capital city, and
alighted on the ground in the royal gardens of the King of
the Shan country, where it stands to this day.

The Princess Varagun gave a grand dinner to the nine
hundred and ninety-nine virgins. The King and Queen
presided at the feast, and there were rejoicings in honour
of the event for many a day thereafter, not only in the city,
but all over the Shan country.

The Prince observed, "It is remarkable that even giants
should show a regard to royal personages, and treat them

j86 THE TALES OF THE SIXTY MANDARINS.

respectfully. Why, the Giant of the Invisible Castle would
not rest content till he had obtained a Princess for his
presiding wife."

When the Prince had quite finished speaking, another
Mandarin, after waiting for two minutes, stood up, and
said, "Sire, the Emperor Mandarin, who ruled over the
Island of Allfriars, had for his motto—' Nor sun may rise,
nor sun may set, but men will have distinctions yet.' The
same applies to giants as well."

The Prince exclaimed, " The Emperor Mandarin, who
ever heard of such a title ! The Island of Allfriars — where
was it? Good and polite Mandarin, do introduce us at
once to the august personage that you have referred to, and
tell us all about the island also."

The Mandarin told the story as follows : —

0f ifc Jslantr 0f Allfriars.

There was an Emperor of the Celestials in ancient times,
who was so philanthropic in spirit, that one day he spoke to
his Prime Minister as follows : —

" All human beings are born alike. They have hunger
and other appetites and passions alike. When they die,
they return alike to the dust of which they were made.
Under these circumstances we see no reason why the mani-
fold conventional distinctions — social and political — that
prevail in communities, should be permitted to exist. So
to-morrow issue an edict that at the end of three years
hence there will be an equitable revision of rights, and that
all the property in the Celestial Empire will be put together
and apportioned equally among the many hundred millions
that inhabit it."

THE STORY OF THE ISLAND OF ALLFRIARS. 187

The Prime Minister was surprised to hear his Majesty
say so.

Before he could open his lips, the Emperor continued,
" Of course, the potentates of earth generally copy our
example, because we have been ordained by heaven to
take the lead in every movement of importance. So when
they perceive the equity of our plan, and the incalculable
benefits that are sure to flow from it to mankind at large,
they will do the same."

The Prime Minister essayed again to say something.

But his Majesty continued, " In course of time the
whole world will be freed from those pernicious differences,
which, under the various imaginary heads of wealth, rank,
power, and pedigree, have handicapped the free progress of
man towards perfection. As a preliminary step we abolish
all titles and dignities in the Empire. The Empire itself
shall be known in future as the Empire of Allfriars, every
man being counted by the rest as a brother ; for the title
Celestial Empire indicates a superiority over the other
Empires of the world, which we would not, in our
philanthropy, tolerate."

The Prime Minister found it his duty to intercede.

But his Majesty continued, " We know that the title
Mandarin is dear to the people, and that they will not part
with it. So we make it general throughout our dominions.
Every man shall bear the title, and we further illustrate our
will on this point as follows : — Persons like merchants,
bankers, farmers, shepherds, poulterers, scullions, scavengers
shall henceforth be known as merchant mandarins, banker
mandarins, shepherd mandarins, poulterer mandarins,
scullion mandarins, and scavenger mandarins.'7

The Prime Minister, who was extremely alarmed to hear
all that the Emperor had said, and whose feelings were
specially outraged by the last two titles with which His

t88 THE TALES OF THE SIXTY MANDARINS.

Majesty illustrated the sweeping character of his reforms,
said, " It is impossible to controvert the decrees of the
Imperial conscience and wisdom, yet I venture to suggest
that the scheme may be tried on a small scale, and then
propagated."

The Emperor agreed. So the Prime Minister brought
before his Majesty six men without any distinctions among
them as to wealth, rank, power, and pedigree, and addressed
them as follows : — " In the Hoangho there is a little island
which has long been uninhabited. You will repair to it, and
live there on terms of perfect equity and equality. In fact,
you are to lead such a free life of brotherly harmony and
affection that each may give a highly satisfactory account of
himself when his Imperial Majesty visits the island at the
end of three years."

Here the Emperor asked the Prime Minister what name
might be bestowed on the island.

He replied, " Your Majesty wished to bestow the name
Empire of Allfriars on your Majesty's dominions. The
same name, slightly modified, may be bestowed upon the
island. It may be called the Island of Allfriars, as a tenta-
tive measure, of course."

The Emperor said, " It is, indeed, an appropriate name.
The men will live like brothers all of them." Then turning
to the men, his Majesty said, "You are to use no title
among you. But if ever you should feel inclined to have
one, address one another as Mandarin, as we have made it
universal among our subjects."

His Majesty, who was eager to know how the men
answered his expectations, was counting the days. At the
end of three years he repaired to the island, with his Prime
Minister, without giving any previous notice to the six in-
habitants. Finding a hut at some distance from the shore,
they climbed a tree and hid themselves in its foliage, intent

THE STORY OF THE ISLAND OF ALLFRIARS. 189

upon watching the movements of the people, the Emperor
exclaiming, " Surely they have been leading a life of perfect
equality and unity under one brotherly roof; for there is
evidently but one hut on the island."

Scarcely had his Majesty finished speaking, when they
saw a litter of bamboo canes borne on the shoulders of four
men, while one sat upon it in great dignity, and another
ran before him like a herald, holding a thick bamboo cane
with a bunch of feathers suspended from the top in the
form of a tassel, shouting at every step — " Ho, ho ! hi, ho !
hi, hing, ho ! Here is the Emperor Mandarin of the
Island of Allfriars ! I am his Prime Minister Mandarin !
These are his Bearer Mandarins ! Nor sun may rise, nor
sun may set, but men will have distinctions yet ! "

The litter was gently placed on the ground before the
hut, and the person on it walked in, while the four
bearers sat outside, and the herald stood at the gate. The
Emperor was astounded to see this spectacle. So he, with
the Prime Minister, went to the hut, and asked each to give
an account of himself.

They all pointed to the person that had gone into the
hut, saying, "Sire, the Emperor Mandarin ought to speak
first to your Majesty."

This puzzled his Majesty more. While he was
wondering what the title meant, the Emperor Mandarin
came out, and receiving his Majesty and the Prime
Minister with the air of a potentate, said, " Your Majesty,
with your Prime Minister, is welcome to my kingdom of the
Island of Allfriars ! "

His Majesty, being eager to know all about their doings
on the island during the three years they were on it, asked
him to relate at length every incident that had happened to
them during the period.

The Emperor Mandarin said, " Sire, when we landed on

190 THE TALES OF THE SIXTY MANDARINS.

this island, each of us had a knife and an equal quantity
of corn, and nothing more.

" One of us cut the branch of a tree with the knife, and
making a wooden spade and hoe sowed a portion of the
corn. The second man made a trap and caught a great
many birds, which he put in a cage of his own making.
The third man cut down a great quantity of wood and
stored it up in a yard which he enclosed. The fourth
collected a great quantity of the bark of trees, and set about
preparing it for apparel.

•" The fifth employed himself in helping each to build
whatever he required.

"The sixth said, 'Each of you has been doing
something after his own fashion. You want some one
to look after these things when you are away in the
woods or elsewhere. Further, doubts may arise among
you as to the relative value of the commodities you wish
to exchange. Various other questions will arise which a
sixth man alone can well decide for you. What do you
say to my looking after your affairs in that style ? Of
course, you will pay me for my trouble in the article which
each has.'

''They all consented, saying that the proposal solved
a problem and supplied a desideratum. I was the sixth
man. Every day I had my fees for looking after their
things while they were away, and for settling questions
about barter and other transactions among them, while the
fifth man built me a hut.

"Thus, I had corn, poultry, wood for fuel, bark for
apparel, and a hut ; whereas, each of the rest had but one
or two things with him. So what with, my hut, what with
my varied store, I became the centre of the circle, and my
hut the rendezvous of our little community. At first they
called me Watchman Mandarin, then Agent Mandarin,

THE STORY OF THE ISLAND OF ALLFRIARS. 191

then Umpire Mandarin, then Lawyer Mandarin, then Judge
Mandarin.

" When matters had advanced thus far, the crops of the
Farmer Mandarin failed, because an inundation swept over
his fields. The fox made a raid or two into his yard, and
the Poulterer Mandarin lost his all. A fire caught the fuel
stored by the Wood Mandarin, and he was a bankrupt. As
the store of the Bark Mandarin was close by, it shared the
same fate.

"The Builder Mandarin lost his means of living, because
those who needed his services had failed. So all these
were driven to the necessity of resorting to me for aid.

" I said, ' Now that you have been constrained to seek
my help, I shall have to maintain you all. I shall, indeed,
be happy to relieve you, if you will somehow make me a
return for the aid I give you.'

" They replied, ' You know, we have nothing to give
you ; so the only manner in which we can hope to com-
pensate you is by serving you — each in some capacity under
your control.'

" ' Ah,' said I, ' that would be creating distinctions,
against which we have been specially cautioned by his
Majesty and the Prime Minister.'

" But they, who were very hungry, for they had tasted
nothing for a long time, impatiently exclaimed, ' Nor sun
may rise, nor sun may set, but men will have distinctions
yet. So relieve our wants instantaneously, and be our
Emperor in future.'

" Then the Farmer Mandarin stepped forth, and said,
' call me your Prime Minister.'

"The remaining four said they would call themselves
my subjects. I pointed out to them the necessity of add-
ing Mandarin as a title common to all, to the office of
each, according to your Majesty's injunctions. So I be-

1 92 THE TALES OF THE SIXTY MANDARINS.

came the Emperor Mandarin of the Island of Allfriars.
The Farmer Mandarin is my Prime Minister Mandarin as
well as the Police Mandarin, as will be evident from his
bamboo bdton with the bunch of feathers on the top.

" The Poulterer Mandarin, the Wood Mandarin, the
Bark Mandarin, and the Builder Mandarin are my
subject Mandarins, and whenever I have to go out they
bear my litter, which was made for me by the Builder
Mandarin. Thus, as your Majesty sees, I have strictly
observed your Majesty's injunction as to the universal title
Mandarin, according it to every one of my subjects.

"Further, this hut I call my palace. The wooden
bench within is my throne. The words engraved on the
piece of bark on the top of the flagstaff there form my
motto. As such, it is also the motto of the exalted Order
of the Black Dragon, which I have had to create for the
benefit of my. subjects, and to which the Farmer Mandarin
has been already admitted, because he was the first to
recover, by his continued diligence, from the effects of the
calamities that had happened one after another to my
subjects."

Here the Emperor turned in the direction pointed out
by the Emperor Mandarin, and found a long pole, which
he had not noticed before, planted on the ground in front
of the hut, with a piece of bark cut in the form of a long
dragon flying on the top, bearing the words, "Nor sun
may rise, nor sun may set, but men will have distinctions
yet."

The Emperor Mandarin continued, " I have divided the
Empire of the Island of Allfriars into four great provinces.
My subject Mandarins have been long soliciting me to
appoint each of them Governors of a province. Further,
the other four, who have recovered from the effects of the
calamities that had befallen them, have been sc licking the

THE STORY OF THE ISLAND OF ALLFRIARS. 193

honour of being admitted to the most exalted Order of
the Black Dragon.

"To go through the double ceremony of appointing
the Governors and installing the remaining four as mem-
bers of the Order, I was on my way to my Court from
another hut on that side of the island, which I call my
summer palace, when your Majesty and the Prime Minister
arrived/'

The Emperor was, of course, lost in amazement at the
turn which his scheme had taken. He returned to his
capital, with his Prime Minister, without alluding any further
to his philanthropic edict, exclaiming all the way, as often
as the dignity of his position would permit, " Ah, all rivers
must be of equal length and width, all mountains of equal
height and bulk, and all seasons of equal temperature, be-
fore all men may live and move with equal wealth and
privileges ! "

As often the Prime Minister responded in the words of
the motto of the Order of the Black Dragon, " Nor sun may
rise, nor sun may set, but men will have distinctions yet ! "

The Prince remarked, " It was, no doubt, a mistake
on the part of his Imperial Majesty to have fancied that
all men could continue to have the same rights and privi-
leges without any distinctions whatever."

Here another Mandarin got up and said, "Sire, his
Imperial Majesty was as much mistaken, when he fancied
that all men could live and move equally without any dis-
tinctions whatever, as the nobleman Nowroze, of the Island
of Ormaz, when he fancied that his affection towards his
wife would ever continue as warm as it was at a particular
period of time."

The Prince asked the Mandarin to relate the story, and
he proceeded with it as follows : —

N

194

In the city of Ormaz, which was on an island of the
same name in the Persian Gulf, there lived a youthful
nobleman, named Nowroze, who once said to his wife, the
fair lady Nourmahal, " My dear wife, I love you more than
my life, and long to prove to you the truth of my assertion."

The lady Nourmahal said, " Ah, good husband, make
no professions that you cannot well carry out. The proof
of your attachment must be perceived in your conduct
throughout life. So it is too early to say to your wife that
you love her more than your life."

" No, good wife," said Nowroze, " you may try me as
carefully as you can. I will stand the trial."

Nourmahal said, " Well, if you are in such earnest
about it, I hope to test your fidelity to your wife ere long."

That day forward Nowroze paid greater attention to
his wife than ever.

One day Nourmahal said to her husband, " I have not
seen my parents for a long time past. You say you are
very busy at present. So permit me to go to the house
of my parents first, and have the pleasure of seeing you
there, ere long."

Nowroze consented to this. So the lady Nourmahal
left for the house of her parents, which was at some distance
from the city.

The next evening, as Nowroze went into the apartments
of his wife, to have a look at her picture, he saw a letter
on the table by her bed, and opening it, found a miniature
portrait of a young lady of remarkable beauty, and a letter,
which read as follows : —

" Dear Cousin Nourmahal, — I have been longing to see
you all this week ; but no time. I shall positively call to-

THE STORY OF THE CREEPER OF LIGHTNING. 195

morrow. Herewith I send you a copy of my portrait,
which I painted with my own hands by observing my image
in a mirror. In your last letter you ask very eagerly when
I am to be married. My father has not yet fixed upon a
suitable son-in-law. Nor have I any idea as to his identity.
I would rather remain some time longer as I am. It is not
every one that can be as fortunate as Nourmahal in attain-
ing that universal desideratum of marriageable maids — a
good husband ! — With love, dear cousin, ever yours,

"CREEPER OF LIGHTNING."

The last, of course, was the name of the lady.

Nowroze looked at the portrait again and again, and
said to himself, "She is, indeed, a creeper of lightning!
I doubt very much if a creeper of lightning has the bril-
liancy of the countenance of this lady. Her eyes have cer-
tainly more light in them than a thousand creepers of light-
ning put together ! She is unmarried,! She has not yet fixed
upon a husband ! She envies Nourmahal her husband ! "

Here Nowroze carefully scanned himself from head to
foot in a mirror, adjusted his whiskers, and came to the
conclusion that he must try the effect of giving the lady an
opportunity to see him, saying, " I will not love her ; but will
simply increase her misery by giving her an idea of my
personal accomplishments."

Having thus introduced the thin end of the wedge into
the impenetrable block of his affections, Nowroze waited
patiently for the arrival of the lady. The next day, the lady
arrived in a closely covered litter, borne on the shoulders of
four sumptuously attired eunuchs, and on learning that her
cousin Nourmahal was absent at her father's house, appeared
to be highly disappointed.

Nowroze, for his part, was extremely attentive to her and
her attendants. Although he had no opportunity of seeing
her, according to the etiquette of his nation, as of many
N 2

196 THE TALES OF THE SIXTY MANDARINS.

another nation on earth, yet he showed in various other ways
how assiduous he was in doing her the honours of the house.
One of the eunuchs that accompanied the lady came to
Nowroze and said, " My mistress is very sorry that her lady-
ship is absent. In her absence, she wishes at least to kiss
her portrait in her apartments. May she do so ? "

Nowroze consented with pleasure to the lady coming
into the apartments of Nourmahal and kissing her portrait.
By this time the heart and head of Nowroze were so roughly
agitated by the presence of the Creeper of Lightning in the
same house with him, that he said to himself, " Well,
according to our law we can marry more than one wife at
one and the same time. Now, if I should take another
wife — not that I am actually going to do so — will my heart
be any the less warm in loving my dear Nourmahal ? No ;
for hearts are like flames, that go on augmenting their own
heat and energy as they extend."

When he had arrived at this plausible conclusion, he
paused for a moment, and said to himself, " Now, I have
Ncurrnahal — that is my wife number one ; suppose I make
the Creeper of Lightning my wife number two. Ah ! not
that I am actually going to do so — but it is a mere supposi-
tion ! "

So Nowroze waited with such conflicting thoughts till
the lady entered the apartments of his wife, and then beckon-
ing to the eunuch who accompanied her, said, in a whisper,
" Ask the lady if she will accept me for her husband."

The eunuch went up to the lady, and, after a short con-
ference with her, returned, saying, " My mistress is quite
opposed to your proposal. She says she will be doing a
great piece of injustice to her friend and cousin, Nourmahal,
who has ever informed her that she was tenderly attached to
you, and that you loved her dearer than your life."

Nowroze, who had by this time expelled from his mind

THE STORY OF THE CREEPER OF LIGHTNING. 197

all scruples on the subject, replied, "No doubt I have spoken
to my wife such words — but words are words, as you know.
So let bygones be bygones, and let me know if the lady will
or will not accept me."

The eunuch returned saying, " My mistress will marry
you this moment, if your wife should give her consent."

Nowroze said, " If I had her by my side this moment
I would make her consent at once to this proposal ; but she
is at her father's house."

Here the veiled figure, which Nowroze had fancied was
some lady bearing the strange name of Creeper of Lightning,
exclaimed, " Oh, no, dear husband, she is here, ready to
give consent ! "

It was the Lady Nourmahal that had spoken ; for she
it was that had painted the picture, written the letter, and
come in that guise to test the worth of the professions which
her husband had so persistently made to her. Nowroze was
lost in amazement. In his confusion, he knew not what he
said. So, he exclaimed, "Ah ! What do I hear ! "

The lady Nourmahal replied, " Good husband, it is the
voice of thunder that you hear in your quest after the
Creeper of Lightning ! "

Poor Nowroze never after said to his wife, " I love you
better than my life ! " but by his conduct proved how
much he loved and esteemed her. The lady readily forgave
him, saying, " The worst of our frailties is fancying we have
none."

They lived long in perfect happiness, highly respected
and admired throughout the Island of Ormaz.

The Prince remarked, " After all, the lady Nourmahal
revenged herself on her husband in the noblest way
possible."

Here another Mandarin stood up, and said, " Sire,

198 THE TALES OF THE SIXTY MANDARINS.

the lady's revenge was like the revenge of the Royal
Mendicant."

The Prince requested the Mandarin to relate the story,
and he proceeded with it as follows : —

0f tlj* Jlrmai

In the days of the Tartar Conqueror, Zengis Khan, there
were three small kingdoms in Central Asia, the Sultans of
which were what are popularly known as " very good friends."
Often they visited one another, and even exchanged very
valuable presents. They were called Cobad, Jan war, and
Fyzul respectively. The last was a very righteous man. He
had, however, this fault — he fancied that the world always
meant what it said, and took every one at his word. So he
said, " I am the happiest man alive ; I have two Sultans of
equal power and territory for my friends ! "

The Grand Vizier of Sultan Fyzul, who had the highest
respect for the character of his master, said, " Sire, friends
are ever tested by adversity. If the craft of friendship
weather the storm of adversity, it is, indeed, worth the name.
So let the sincerity of these two allies be first tested by your
Majesty."

Thereupon, Sultan Fyzul entrusted the government of
his dominions to his faithful Vizier, and, in the disguise
of a Mendicant, repaired to the capital of Sultan Cobad,
and while he was going out of his palace for a ride, threw
himself in his way, and, saluting him, exclaimed, with tears
in his eyes, "Ah, good friend Cobad, adversity has driven
me out of my kingdom. If you will condescend to help
me, I shall be able to retrieve my fortunes. If not, I shall
be undone."

Cobad lifted up his riding-whip a trifle higher, in ac-

THE REVENGE OF THE ROYAL MENDICANT. 199

knowledgment of the salutation of Sultan Fyzul, and with
a sombre face full of wisdom, silent lips full of caution, and
uplifted eyebrows, that denoted a superior order of surprise
and embarrassment, which Sultans alone could exhibit,
gazed at the prostrate Sultan Fyzul for a long while, and
then broke silence as follows : —

"Friendship can exist only between equals in every

" HE . . . THREW HIMSELF IN HIS WAY " (/. 198).

respect. You were Sultan Fyzul before — but you are
nobody now. You had better therefore seek the relief you
need from some person of inferior rank, suited to your
present circumstances."

Then he rode off, saying, "I am, indeed, sorry for
you, and wish I could do more in conformity with my rank
and dignity."

When his Majesty had given expression to these admir-
able sentiments, and disappeared in the woods adjoining

200 THE TALES OF THE SIXTY MANDARINS.

his palace gardens, Sultan Fyzul left the place, and after a
long journey sought the presence of Sultan Janwar.

He lent a patient ear to all that Sultan Fyzul said, and,
with as much sophistry as inelegance, replied, " The choicest
viands must go to the dunghill, and the choicest wines
to the sewer, when they have been spoilt. So you must
now mix with people better suited to your circumstances
than Sultans, who were your friends before."

Then Sultan Janwar meditated for a while, and said,
" If you have no objection, you may reside with the watch-
man of our palace, and receive the comforts which his home
provides."

Sultan Fyzul said to himself, " Of the two friends I have,
the second is, indeed, the better man. For he was so good
as to say that I might reside with his watchman."

Then Sultan Fyzul returned to his capital, and ap-
plauded his Vizier for the very wise suggestion he had made.

Some time after, Zengis Khan invaded the dominions of
Cobad and Janwar, because they had openly sheltered some
of his rebellious subjects, who had fled to them for refuge,
and drove the two Sultans out of their capitals.

With their families in disguise, they were constrained to
flee into the adjacent kingdom of Sultan Fyzul, and
presenting themselves before him, said, " O, Sultan Fyzul,
when adversity frowned on you and drove you out of your
dominions, we refused to help you. It was our folly that
led us to do so. Now we have been constrained to
seek shelter in your dominions, you may do with us what
you like. Alas ! in our reverses nothing serves us so well as
the good offices we do to our friends ; and nothing proves
a greater stumbling-block than infidelity towards them."

When Sultan Fyzul heard all these wise things that the
two fallen potentates uttered in his presence, he replied, with
a very demure countenance, " So you have come to me after

THE REVENGE OF THE ROYAL MENDICANT. 201

all. I must have my revenge in full. Men like you should
never be let off with impunity."

Here Sultan Fyzul paused, and Cobad and Janwar
fancied he was collecting materials for a volley of the
most powerful abuse from his armoury of offensive
epithets, when he told his Grand Vizier, "Send each
of these men with his family and children to a separate
mansion in our capital, and see that he is well provided
with all the comforts of life."

The Grand Vizier did so.

Sultan Fyzul paid each of them a visit every day, and at
times brought over their children to play with his own in
the palace.

Cobad and Janwar said to themselves, "Evidently
Sultan Fyzul is treating us with a semblance of regard that
he may murder us in our beds some night with his own
hands, for nothing short of such direct revenge can gratify
him."

So they never slept at night, but ever lay vigilant, in
momentary expectation of death.

One evening Sultan Fyzul sent for both of them, with
their wives and children, to his palace", where a sumptuous
feast was laid out for them. After they had all partaken of
it together, their wives and children being entertained in the
inner apartment, by the Sultana, Sultan Fyzul spoke to them
as follows : —

" Since your arrival at my court, I have been soliciting
the great Zengis Khan, with whom — heaven be praised ! — I
stand on amicable terms, to pardon you, and restore you to
your kingdoms, that your wives and children, who are, of
course, as innocent as mine, and who, I am sure, have
never shut their doors against their friends in adversity,
may be happy again. This day the courier has arrived,
bearing his written mandate complying with my request.

202 THE TALES OF THE SIXTY MANDARINS.

" I know you have been living here in constant fear of
assassination. But therein you but paid the penalty due
to your own suspicious hearts. You had to dread unkind-
ness from others as you had never done a kindness —
properly so called — to a friend. But henceforth be better
men, and enjoy the happiness which virtue and benevolence
alone can bestow. Now let me assure you that the Royal
Mendicant, whom you turned away from your doors, has
had his revenge in full ! "

The Sultans Cobad and Janwar were quite overcome
by this act of extraordinary forgiveness and benevolence.
They rose together from their seats, with tears in their
eyes, and, saluting his Majesty most reverentially, said,
" Adversity has, indeed, been our monitor, as it has been
the monitor of almost every individual on earth. We have
learnt from it a lesson which we shall never forget. Nor
shall we fail to profit by the revenge of the Royal Mendi-
cant, on whom heaven shower its choicest blessings for
ever!"

Here the children of the two Sultans came forward, and
saluted his Majesty.

The wives of the two Sultans, who were in the inner
apartments, exclaimed in an audible tone, " Sultan Fyzul,
our brother, has made us happy again ! "

His Majesty replied, "Ah, good sisters, see that your
royal husbands turn away no helpless mendicant from their
doors in future, be he royal or ordinary ! "

The Prince remarked, " Sultan Fyzul illustrated the
truth that forgiveness is the noblest revenge. At the same
time, it may be added that forgiveness is the most effective
revenge; for revenge leads to revenge, while forgiveness
alone annihilates it completely."

Here another Mandarin stood up, and said, "Sire

THE STORY OF PRINCE R AGO DA. 203

forgiveness is the most efficacious antidote to that raging
malady known as vindictiveness, even as love proved the
most effective tamer of the wildness of the little Prince
Ragoba."

The Prince, being curious to know all about Ragoba,
requested the Mandarin to tell the story, and he proceeded
with it as follows : —

0f Ipritttt Jlagnba an& tfa IFair

In a certain country not far from the Celestial Empire
there was an ancient custom of training people, called
Puchandies, for the special purpose of frightening children
when they proved troublesome. At times these people, in
grotesque attire, with long feathers in their caps, and bells
round their waists, went about the streets knocking at every
door, and asking if there was any demand for their services.

If the housewife said, " Yes," they posted themselves at
the gate, exclaiming, " We live together as bees in a hive ;
we take babies, and roast them alive; then in chariots
drawn by elephants we drive ! "

This incoherent jargon would frighten the little folk. If
at the time they were indulging in their usual pastime of
crying, then they would at once give it up, and run into the
darkest corners of the house, and hide their little heads,
vowing they would give their mammas no further trouble.
At other times, when the children proved very refractory,
the Puchandies assumed the forms of hideous monsters
to tame their wildness.

The King of the country had a son, a little Prince named
Ragoba, whose lungs were so abnormally powerful that his

204 THE TALES OF THE SIXTY MANDARINS.

crying could be heard, as some of the courtiers said, at the
very boundaries of his father's kingdom. It was, therefore,
proposed to appoint a Puchandy to keep the Prince in
order. Accordingly, a great many Puchandies, with great
feathers in their caps, and huge bells in their belts, had a
fair trial given them one after another.

Unfortunately for them all, the Prince had a heart which
was as courageous as his voice was loud. He never had

EVERY ONE

HAD TO BEAT A DISGRACEFUL RETREAT.

the slightest inkling from it of that fiend Fear, whom children
know so well.

So every one of the Puchandies had to beat a disgraceful
retreat from the presence of the redoubtable Prince Ragoba.

But as the Prince was extremely troublesome, and as
the Queen and the nurses who looked after him were ever
worried by his pranks, her Majesty addressed the King as
follows : —

" Ah, the Prince is growing more and more unmanage-
able every day. We have not had a wink of sleep in the

THE STORY OF PRINCE RAGOBA.' 205

night. We can neither go to breakfast, nor dinner, nor
supper with any hope of finishing the meal undisturbed.
He breaks everything that comes in his way, strikes, bites,
and kicks people without mercy. When told .that his
Puchandy would soon come and take him away, he says
he will treat him in the same style. Your Majesty must,
therefore, take steps without delay to set him right."

The King at once assembled a council of his ministers,
and laid the matter before them.

They said, " Sire, we have not yet given the Prince
a good Puchandy. He must have one at once. We
propose that three of us disguise ourselves as three monster
Puchandies, and frighten the Prince one after another."

The King assented.

Of the three ministers who had agreed to undertake the
taming of Prince Ragoba, the first assumed the form of
a huge elephant, and, with waving ears and uplifted trunk,
approached the Prince, with one foot raised on high, as
though he meant to trample him down at a tread.

The Prince advanced towards his adversary with a
steady step, and, taking hold of his trunk, gave it such
a twisting that it fell to pieces, for it was made of paste-
board.

The Prince laughed heartily over it, and the discomfited
elephant fled to some forest, from which he said he had
come for the special purpose of rectifying the conduct of
Prince Ragoba.

The King and Queen, the nurses, and other servants of
the palace, who were watching the scene from a distance
behind a screen, roared with laughter.

The second minister assumed the form of a black lion,
with flowing mane and frightful claws, and roaring louder
than thunder, presented himself before the Prince. In-
stantly the Prince fell on all-fours, and stalking like another

206 THE. TALES OF THE SIXTY MANDARINS.

lion went up to his adversary, and, putting his nose to his,
gave such a tremendous roar that the other beat a hasty
retreat to some wood in a distant glen, from which he said
he had come for the special purpose of rectifying the con-
duct of Prince Ragoba. There were roars of laughter again
behind the screen.

It was now the turn of the third minister. He assumed
the form of a flying dragon, with crested head and claws out-
spread, and presented himself before the Prince, spitting
fire and performing various rapid evolutions with his long,
forked tongue. Not all the children in the world put
together could have so much as endured the sight of the
horrid monster.

But Prince Ragoba at once ran to the kitchen, and
snatching a flaming brand, returned saying, " Now,
Puchandy, here I am ; will you have a fight with me ? "

The dragon found out that his adversary was determined
to set fire to him if he ventured to advance a step further
towards him. So he beat a hasty retreat to some dark cave
in a distant mountain, from which he said he had come for
the special purpose of rectifying the conduct of Prince
Ragoba.

The Queen and all the nurses and other servants of the
palace who were concerned in the affair were in absolute
despair when they found that there was no kind of Puchandy
who could tame the wildness of Prince Ragoba. At the
same time the Queen was opposed to all employment of
physical force in bringing him to his senses. " For," she
said, "if you touch my Ragoba with a blade of grass, I
shall feel it as though I had been beaten with a club."

The King said, " Neither elephants with uplifted trunk,
nor lions roaring louder than thunder, nor dragons spitting
fire will do as Puchandies any more. We must, therefore,
get a Puchandy of a different type altogether."

THE STORY OF PRINCE RAGOBA. 207

So he sent for little Jollima, who was the daughter of
his sister, the Queen of a neighbouring country, and whom
the Prince had never seen before, and said, " Ragoba, here
is a Puchandy whom you cannot easily send away. Now,
what do you say ? "

When Ragoba saw Little Jollima, her innocent smiles,
her charming looks, and her amiable disposition at once
prepossessed his heart.

So he gave up his turbulent ways and went to play with
her. In the course of a few days he contracted the habit of
doing everything in his power to please little Jollima. She
exercised a wonderful influence over him — ay, the influence
which every innocent and amiable soul is capable of
exercising over those that seek its company.

The Queen and all the nurses and other servants, who
were concerned in the affair, and who were before in
absolute despair, were now perfectly happy. So the King
proposed to send Jollima back to her parents.

But Prince Ragoba said, " If you take Jollima away
from me, I will strike, I will bite, I will kick, I will cry, and
make you sore as ever before. But if you keep Jollima with
me you need bring no more Puchandy ! "

The story goes on to say that the King did keep Jollima
with the Prince. That they played together for years, as
long as play alone could amuse them, that then they loved
each other, and became eventually King and Queen of the
country. King Ragoba was ever fond of saying, " The
best Puchandy I had was my beloved Jollima. She accom-
plished in my case what elephants, lions, and dragons failed
to do. Ah, yes, when all else failetb, love availeth ! "

The children of the country, who are familiar with the
story to this day, play at " Ragoba and Puchandy," enacting
the scenes in it one after another, and concluding with the
scene in which Ragoba tells his father that he would revive

208 THE TALES OF THE SIXTY MANDARINS.

all his wildness and mischief if the fair Jollima should be
taken away from him.

The Prince remarked, " The amiable disposition of
little Jollima tamed the wildness of Prince Ragoba. This
was, no doubt, an instance of a thing being cured by
its contrary."

Another Mandarin stood up and said, " Sire, to bring
certain things to existence, we have often to employ their
contraries — even as the Prince Vikrama made his wife weep
to do himself the pleasure of witnessing the cascade of
pearls that fell from her eyes."

The Prince said, " Good Mandarin, she must have
indeed been a wonderful lady from whose eyes fell a
cascade of pearls when she wept. Do relate the story
without any further delay."

The Mandarin proceeded with it as follows : —

of 33ama JJikrama ; or, fKfyt ffiasrato
of

In the fair Province of Cashmere there was a picturesque
little lake with an island in the middle. On this island
was a wood of aromatic trees. In the wood was a bower,
wherein lived a fairy named Varna. She seldom smiled,
but when she did smile, the trees and plants around her
blossomed. She seldom wept, but when she did weep a
cascade of pearls fell from her eyes.

Her abode was called by the people the Enchanted
Island, and the lake the Enchanted Lake. If any got into
a boat or other craft to reach the island, he felt such an
eager thirst as compelled him to drink the water. So soon

THE STORY OF VAMA VIKRAMA. 209

as he drank it he became a crocodile and fell into the lake,
where he mingled with others, who had turned crocodiles in
similar enterprises before him.

A great many people had thus been lost in the lake.
Further, when any person appeared in a boat or raft, the
crocodiles were so jealous of him that they strove to capsize
his craft.

In the country of Nepaul there was a Prince called
Vikrama, who had heard of the fairy Varna. He said to
himself, " The fairy must, indeed, be willing to wed some one
worthy of her. The obstacles in the way to her bower are,
of course, intermediate. Probably she has no control over
them. So I must somehow reach the bower."

With this resolve he went to a sage in the Himalaya
Mountains, and asked him for some means of travelling in
the air.

The sage gave him a pair of shoes, and said, " If you
put on these shoes, shut your eyes, and think of the place
that you wish to reach, you will be there."

That evening, when the full moon rose in splendour over
the. snowy mountains, he put on the shoes, and shut his
eyes, wishing to be at the fairy's bower. He was there.
The fairy was sitting pensively on a bank of white roses,
looking at the moon from time to time, and sighing.

Prince Vikrama approached her with great courtesy, and
said, " Fair Varna, I am Vikrama, Prince of Nepaul. I
have long loved you dearer than my life. If you do not
love me tell me so, that I may this moment terminate
my existence. For life without you will be no life to me,
and I assure you this is no hypocrisy."

The tender and sincere appeal which Vikrama thus made

to her heart at once melted it, and she smiled so happil}

that all the trees and plants around her were at once

covered with blo-soms. What with the moonlight, what

0

210 THE TALES OF THE SIXTY MANDARINS.

with the fragrance of flowers, the scene became very de-
lightful and romantic. The fairy gave her hand in marriage
to Vikrama, and the two lived for some time happily on
the island.

The first care of the Prince, after the wedding, was to
solicit the fairy to break the spell which had transformed the
men into crocodiles.

THE FATRV WAS SITTING PENSIVELY" (/. 209).

The fairy said, " My father, who lives in the Himalayas,
created this island for my abode by the power of enchant-
ment, and said : ' Let that man wed my child who finds out
the means of reaching the island without crossing the waters
of the lake. Let those that attempt to cross the lake
remain transformed into crocodiles till I release them
from the spell.' "

Scarcely had Varna finished her words, when the sage,
who had given Prince Vikrama the magic shoes, descended
from the sky.

THE STORY OF VAMA VIKRAMA. 211

The fairy ran to meet him with open arms, exclaiming
" Father ! You have come after all ! "

The sage, pronouncing a benediction on the fairy and
her husband, said, " Prince Vikrama, this is my daughter.
You are my son. You deserved her. For that reason I put
myself in your way, and supplied you with the means of
reaching the island. Live happily with your wife for long,
long years to come, and let the love of Vama-Vikrama be
celebrated by the royal bards of Nepaul in glowing verse ! "

Then the sage turned to the waters of the lake, and
pronounced some mystic words. Instantly, the men, who
had been floating in the form of huge crocodiles, regained
their natural shapes, and swam ashore.

" My son," said the sage, addressing the Prince, " if I
had not guarded the island so 'carefully by the aid of
magic, my daughter would have had no rest in her abode.
Every clown in the country would have aspired for her hand.
For to attain what is fair becomes every man's care." Here
the sage pronounced another benediction on the happy
couple, and disappeared.

The Prince said to himself, " I have seen the smile of
Varna and its wonderfully delightful effects. Now I must
see the cascade of pearls." So he said to her, " Dear Varna,
I have come away from my parents abruptly. They have
been, no doubt, lamenting my absence bitterly. So permit
me to go home for a week."

" Dear husband," said Varna, " I give you permission to
do so. Just take this memento with you for my sake."

Here she put into his hand a beautiful white rose, which
he received with every mark of affection and esteem. But
at the same time the Prince was extremely surprised and
disappointed. Varna had often told him that she could not
live for one moment without him ; that if ever he was
separated from her, she would count it the greatest calamity

2i2 THE TALES OF THE SIXTY MANDARINS.

So the Prince thought that if he asked her to let him go,
she would weep, and give him an opportunity of witnessing
the wonderful cascade of pearls.

But, as he had taken leave of Varna for a week, he put
on his magic shoes, and was in the Palace of the King of
Nepaul — his father. He gave an account to his parents
of all that he had done.

They said, " Dear son, we are, indeed, happy to see you
again safe. But our happiness would have been tenfold if
you had brought your wife with you ! "

After spending the greater part of the day with his
parents, he retired to his own apartments, when what was
his astonishment to see his wife — the gentle fairy Varna —
there, reclining pensively on a cushion, as when she sat on
the bank of white roses, when the Prince first saw her in
the Enchanted Island !

Vikrama flew towards her with open arms, exclaiming,
" My love, when did you come here ? and how ? "

" Dear husband, you said you would never part with me.
But yet you asked my permission to leave the island for a
week. As your heart had grown so indifferent to me, I did
not wish to gainsay its wishes. But I could not live without
you. So the moment you left the island I left it also, and
reached our apartments in the palace, where I have been
since eagerly expecting you. Of course I need hardly
repeat that I have been thinking of you with a yearning
heart every moment since we parted. Now, let me see how
often you have thought of me since. For every time you
thought of me a petal would have disappeared in the rose I
gave you. It is one of those magic white roses growing on
the bank on which you saw me seated when first we met.
So, dear husband, let me see the rose."

The Prince knew that since taking leave of her that
morning he had not once thought of her with a yearning

THE STORY OF VAMA VIKRAMA. 213

heart. So he produced the flower with a trembling hand.
Of course every petal of it was in perfect order.

Instantly the fairy wept, saying, " Alas ! dear husband,
you were in my heart all the day, while I failed to be with
you even once ! " and a cascade of pearls fell from her
eyes.

The Prince was as deeply affected by the tenderness of
his wife's affection as astonished by the size and beauty of
the pearls that fell from her eyes. So he embraced her with
sincere love, and said, " Dear wife, I think heaven made me
forget you for a while to-day that I might have the pleasure
of witnessing this marvellous cascade of pearls. Never
more, Varna, shalt thou be absent from my mind for the
twinkling of an eye ! "

The fairy was gratified with the explanation and the
pledge. Vikrama presented her to the King and Queen —
his parents, and their joy at seeing their daughter-in-law was
boundless. The loving couple lived long in perfect happi-
ness. When Vikrama became King of Nepaul, Varna
became his Queen — the warmth and sincerity of their affec-
tion giving rise to the saying "As loving as Vama-
Vikrama ! "

The Prince remarked, " Vikrama must have indeed been
surprised to see his wife in his apartments, when all the
while he had been under the impression that she was on the
Enchanted Island."

Before the Prince could proceed further, another Man-
darin stood up and said, " Sire, he must have been as much
surprised as the Caliph Haroun Alraschid, of Bagdad, when
he saw himself in the apartments of the virgin from Cir-
cassia, through a stratagem of his fool, Shum Sheer."

The Prince said, " We have all heard of this famous
Caliph who ruled over the Saracens. But not one of us

214 THE TALES OF THE SIXTY MANDARINS.

has ever heard the story referred to by you, good Mandarin.
Be so good as to gratify our curiosity without further
delay."

The Mandarin proceeded with the story, as follows :—

antr J

Zobeide was the favourite Queen of the Caliph Haroun
Alraschid. In the midst of the many acts of affection and
courtesy which they did to each other, there were occasional
differences, which, as the Caliph observed, gave the highest
zest to their happiness.

Once the Caliph said, " Men are more truthful than
women."

Zobeide at once replied, " It is more easily said
than proved. My own opinion is the other way. I
am prepared to prove that women are more truthful than
men."

"Well," said the Caliph, "till you prove it, let there be
a cessation in our happy intercourse, with this condition,
that the one of us should yield as being in error who enters
the apartments of the other, whether wittingly or un-
wittingly."

" Agreed ! " said the Queen.

But as neither the Caliph nor the Queen found it easy
to demonstrate the proposition enunciated by each, they
continued without seeing each other for a good many days.
The Caliph felt eager to see the Queen, but held back,
saying, "The world will remark that, after all, the Com-
mander of the Faithful yielded to a woman — Zobeide
though she be."

THE CALIPH AND HIS FOOL. 215

The Queen felt eager to see the Caliph ; but being too
high spirited to yield, avoided him, saying, " The world
will remark that Zobeide tarnished the honour of her sex
simply because she was in a hurry to see her husband — Com-
mander of the Faithful though he be."

This alarmed the ministers of his Majesty. They held
a council, with the Grand Vizier at their head, and said,
" The might of the world is represented by the Commander
o-f the Faithful, and Zobeide represents all the mercy in it.
If the two fail to work in unison, the efficacy of the one is
as much impaired as the exercise of the other is uncon-
trolled. We have, therefore, to devise some means of
bringing the two together."

The Grand Vizier said, " The Caliph shuts himself up in
his apartments, and seldom permits any of us to approach
him. So there is evidently some difficulty in accomplishing
our object."

One of the Fools of the Caliph, who was known by the
name of Shum Sheer, or The Scimitar — a name which the
Caliph had bestowed upon him in recognition of some of his
cutting jokes and repartees, said, "Ye are wise men ; so ye
fear to approach the Caliph. But I am a fool, and as such
free from all fear. So leave the business to me."

The Giand Vizier asked Shum Sheer, with a smile,
what reward he expected for his trouble.

Now this Shum Sheer was a great favourite of the
Caliph. He had the extraordinary privilege of addressing
him as the Commander of the Faithless. As often as he
addressed the Caliph by that strange title, his Majesty
would ask him, with a smile, why he applied it to him,
and the Fool would invariably reply, " Sire, your Majesty
is, indeed, the Commander of the Faithful. At the same
time, your Majesty is lord of a great many fair women in
your harerq. Now, women, as your Majesty often com-

216 THE TALES OF THE SIXTY MANDARINS.

plains, are faithless. So I have every reason to call youi
Majesty Commander of the Faithless also ! "

The Caliph would laugh, and would approve of the
epithet which the Fool applied to the sex, exclaiming,
"Indeed, they are faithless ! "

Shum Sheer had the privilege of committing a hundred
faults with impunity. The Caliph invariably punished him
for the one hundred and first fault, with his own hands, by
simply touching him with a long bar of gold, and handing it
over to him as a compensation for the injury which he was
supposed to have sustained by the chastisement. Finding
this mode of chastisement highly advantageous, Shum Sheer
often endeavoured successfully to exceed the limits of
impunity, and carried off the prize.

So, in reply to the Grand Vizier's query, Shum Sheer
said, " If your Excellency gets an order passed that I should
be chastised for every eleventh fault, in lieu of the one
hundred and first, in future, I shall consider myself amply
rewarded for my pains."

The Grand Vizier promised to have the order issued if
Shum Sheer played his part successfully, while the other
ministers observed, with a smile, that Shum Sheer was about
the only person who within their knowledge had ever
courted chastisement oftener than the Commander of the
Faithful had intended !

So the Fool presented himself before the Caliph, and
said, " Commander of the Faithless, after all she has come !
— the Circassian beauty with gazelle eyes, tulip cheeks, coral
lips, arched brows, jet-black hair, and a girdle of the purest
gold on a costume of the richest white ! "

The Caliph, whose curiosity was ever roused when
people spoke to him of beauties, wished to know all about
the Circassian.

Shum Sheer said, " Commander of the Faithless, a

THE CALIPH AND HIS FOOL. 217

wealthy nobleman of Bassora was long in quest of the most
beautiful woman in Circassia. After all he found her, and
having purchased her for a million pieces of gold, is now on
his way home with the prize. Bagdad is a stage in his
journey; so he spends a day here, and will be away to-
morrow."

Instantly the Caliph rose from his seat, and bade Shum
Sheer lead him to the place where the beauty was.

Shum Sheer said, " I have been told that the woman,
who is somewhat whimsical, has ruled that those who wish
to be introduced to her must travel to her abode blind-
folded, and, on approaching, pledge to her eternal love and
fidelity."

The Caliph said, " I have known women more whim-
sical in my days. The easiest way with them is to comply
with their whims. So blindfold me this very instant, and
lead me to her."

So Shum Sheer blindfolded the Caliph with a kerchief.
Then he led the Caliph slowly over a great many halls,
which he called streets, and finally made him stop before
a door which, he said, looked like the gate of a houri's
mansion. The Caliph said he longed to enter at once.

The Fool said, "Sire, you will not forget the required
pledge, I am sure."

" Oh, no," said the Caliph, " never fear. I will swear to
her such fidelity as never man pledged to woman."

" That is it ! " said the Fool, and opening the door, said,
" Madam, here is the Commander of the Faithless. I have
brought him to your door."

Within was seated Zobeide, in a pensive attitude, brood-
ing over the rash vow she had taken not to see the Caliph
till he should yield. When she saw him thus brought to
her chamber blindfolded, she was beside herself with sur-
prise and joy.

218 THE TALES OF THE SIXTY MANDARINS.

The Fool, however, signed to her not to speak, and
whispered into the ears of the Caliph, " Sire, the lady
stands before you ; now render your pledge."

The Caliph said, " Madam, I love you dearer than my
life, and pledge eternal fidelity to you, with all my heart ! "

Here Shum Sheer disappeared.

Zobeide imagined that the Caliph craved her forgiveness,
and that he came blindfolded to avoid shame. So she

"HIS MAJESTY WAS SURPRISED."

exclaimed, " I forgive your Majesty with all my heart ; for
I am ever your Majesty's affectionate wife and companion,
Zobeide ! "

So saying, she untied the kerchief with which Shum
Sheer had blindfolded the Caliph. His Majesty was no
less surprised to find himself there. He was also overjoyed
to see that the Fool, Shum Sheer, had solved the difficulty.
So he laughed, and Zobeide joined him in his laughter.
After their Majesties had laughed over the whole affair for
one whole day, they sent for the Grand Vizier, and asked
him to bestow on Shum Sheer the reward he desired.

THE STORY OF THE BOY BIG TURBAN. 219

As this had been already settled, there was no difficulty
in satisfying him. Shum Sheer acquired the privilege of
being chastised for every eleventh fault, and took care to be
more faulty than ever ; and as often as he carried home the
bars of gold, exclaimed, " What a precious penalty ! "

The Prince remarked, " The Caliph Haroun Alraschid
was one of the most powerful potentates of his time. It was
unbecoming on his part to have permitted himself to be
blindfolded by his Fool, Shum Sheer ; although it has to be
added, in extenuation of the Fool's fault, that the end justi-
fied the means to a great extent."

Here another Mandarin stood up and said, "Sire, be
they high or low, when people do things not suited to their
position and circumstances, they are sure to come to grief
like the boy Big Turban."

The Prince desired the Mandarin to relate the story, and
he proceeded with it as follows : —

0f

In a certain city of the Celestial Empire there was a
little boy named Big Turban, who longed to do very much
as big people did. Instead of a cap, he wore a great tur-
ban. Instead of being sportive and gay, he put on a very
serious countenance. Instead of seeing with his bright
little eyes, he saw through a pair of spectacles. Instead of
keeping his breath pure and sweet, he had a long pipe in his
mouth, which he constantly filled and adjusted, with an air
of extreme importance.

A fairy, who observed his ways, said to him, " Sir, you
have a turban ; you are not gay ; you wear spectacles, and
you smoke a pipe. You are just the man I want. For my

22O THE TALES OF THE SIXTY MANDARINS.

husband deserted me with two babies, and I have been in
quest of another whom I might marry." Here the fairy
pointed to two big babies in her arms, which she called her
own.

Big Turban was delighted to hear the fairy address him
" Sir," and call him a " man " ; so, with a smile, he said,
" I seldom smile — well knowing that it is a breach of good
manners to do so ; but I cannot but express in that style
my pleasure at the very great politeness with which you
have addressed me. What can I do for you ? "

" What can you do for me ? " said the fairy. " My dear
sir, why you can do everything for me ! — Now, marry me at
once ! "

Big Turban married the fairy on the spot.

Instantly the fairy handed over her two babies to Big
Turban, saying, " Henceforth you must carry the babies,
because you are my husband, and they are our children ! "

The little arms of Big Turban could hardly hold one
of the babies, who, as he subsequently complained, was as
heavy as a pig. But he was eager to prove to his wife
that, though a boy in years and appearance, he was more
than a man in spirit. So he told the fairy to go in advance,
proposing to follow with the babies.

The fairy went in advance. Big Turban put one baby
down, and carrying the other some distance with great diffi-
culty, laid it down, and retracing his steps, took up the
other baby and carried it to the spot where the first baby
had been left, and moved on, continuing the process.

The fairy observed that he was not able to carry the
two babies at one and the same time, so she turned round
and said, "My dear husband, may I carry one of the
babies ? "

The title, " My dear husband," which the fairy be-
stowed upon him made Big Turban almost giddy with

'MY DPAR HUS9AND, MAY I CARRY ONE OF THE BABIES?"' (?. 290]

THE STORY OF THE BOY BIG TURBAN. 223

delight. Further, he did not wish to produce an impression
on the mind of his wife that he was unequal to the task of
carrying the burden which he had imposed on himself.

So he said, " No, good wife, it is not out of lack of
physical power that I carry baby after baby — it is simply
an amusement that I have proposed to myself. Indeed,
if I choose, I can carry twenty babies like these as if they
were so many mice."

So the fairy went in advance, and Big Turban followed
with the babies as before.

But soon he found it impossible to carry even one
baby at a time. He felt his feet staggering, and his
muscles as though they would crack. •

"Ah," said Big Turban, "I was a boy. Then I be-
came a man. Then a husband. Then a carrier of babies.
If I had known that a husband had to carry babies I
would never have become a husband. If I had known
that a man had to be a husband I would never have be-
come a man ! "

Then he walked a few more steps, and said, " Now,
let me see : if I tell her I cannot carry the babies, it will
be an open confession of weakness. If I continue to carry
them, why I shall split, and fall to pieces ! "

When he had finished uttering these words, he came
to the conclusion that the best course to pursue would be
to drop down the babies, together with his turban, his
spectacles, and his pipe, which he had smoked all the
way, and fly from the spot before the fairy could know
of it.

Accordingly, he had laid the babies gently on the
ground, and had half divested himself of his huge turban,
when the fairy turned round and said, in an angry tone,
" Now, what are you doing there, my husband ? "

Poor Big Turban's heart sank within him. He looked

224 THE TALES OF THE SIXTY MANDARINS.

round as though he were ready to leap into a well, if one
presented itself before him.

The fairy came up to him, and roughly taking hold of
his hand, said, " Do you mean to desert me like my first
husband ? You shall not. While I was his wife I had two
eyes, but now I have twenty ! "

Big Turban knew not what to say in reply. His boyish
instincts prevailed. So, with piteous sobs, he laid his
turban, his spectacles, and his pipe at the feet of the
fairy, saying, " Take these away, and let me go ! "

" But you are my husband. When will you come back
to me ? '; said the fairy.

Big Turban disengaged himself from her hold, and ran
away, exclaiming, " Not till I shall be better able to carry
babies ! "

Nor did he turn behind to see what had become of his
wife and her two babies.

The Prince remarked, " After all, the fairy must have
let off her husband out of contempt."

Before he could proceed further another Mandarin
stood up, and said, "Whether it was out of contempt or
not, the fairy knew that much would not result from her
endeavours to keep him, even as the Tartar Khan found out
that it would be of no great advantage to him to strive
to gain possession of the Persian Princess Fair Blossom."

The Prince requested the Mandarin to relate the story,
and he proceeded with it, as follows : —

ar

There was a Tartar Khan who conquered a great many
countries, and ruled over them with unbounded sway. But

THE FAIR CAVALIERS. 225

there was one province, in the north of Persia, which long
resisted his authority.

The ruler of this province, who was descended from
the great Kusru, or Cyrus, went by the name Feroze, and
he had a fair and accomplished daughter, who bore a
name which, in the Persian language, meant " Fair
Blossom."

The Tartar Khan heard of the beauty and accomplish-
ments of Fair Blossom, and resolved that she should be-
come one of his numerous wives. So he assembled a
large army, and advancing into the territory of Feroze, laid
it waste on all sides, sending an ultimatum to the chieftain
in these terms, " Either send your daughter to us, and yield
implicit obedience to our sway, or be destroyed with all
your people, for we have decided that no mercy shall be
shown to you on this occasion."

Feroze assembled his councillors, and laid the ultimatum
before them. They, with that courage and dignity which
characterised the ancient nobility of Persia, said, " Sire, we
will follow you to the very gates of death's mansion in
your contest with the foe. Depend upon our valour and
fidelity, and hurl back the ultimatum at the face of the
barbarian who sent it."

Accordingly, Feroze sent his family, including his
daughter, to a place of safety, and gave battle to the
Tartars. Although he and his heroic troops performed
prodigies of valour, the numbers and strategy of the Tartar
Khan prevailed, and Feroze, with a great many of his fol-
lowers, was taken prisoner.

When he was taken before the Tartar Khan, the latter
observed, " I have been, till now, courting your daughter
at the point of the sword. Now that I have got you into
my power, may I lay it by, and call you my father-in-law ? "

Feroze replied, "You have, no doubt, got my body
p

226 THE TALES OF THE SIXTY MANDARINS.

into your power, but not my spirit. That is as powerfully
opposed to you and the detested alliance you propose as
ever ! "

Instantly Feroze and his officers were put into
chains, and carried off to the Khan's capital, where they
were confined in cells, into which, people said, everything
entered but light and air.

When Fair Blossom heard of the calamity that had
befallen her father, she said to herself, " My father is a
descendant of the great Kusru. I have his blood in my
veins. What if I am a woman ? Courage springs up in
hearts, and I have a heart ! "

So she assembled all the officers of her father that yet
remained in the province, and laid the matter before
them.

But they said that it was hopeless to contend against the
overwhelming numbers of the Tartars. Thereupon Fair
Blossom, with one hundred followers, whom she called her
maids, marched on horseback towards the capital of the
Khan.

On arriving at the gates of the city, Fair Blossom sent
the following message to his barbarian majesty : —

" On second thought, I have come to the conclusion that
I cannot get a better husband on earth than the great Khan
of the Tartars, before whom the whole world trembles. I
have therefore come to yield implicit obedience to his will,
and contribute to his happiness to the best of my humble
powers. But, before joining his harem, I beg permission to
see my parent Feroze in his prison."

The Tartar Khan was very glad that after all Fair
Blossom had the good sense to appreciate his love, and
return it in that style. So he permitted her, with the fair
cavaliers that accompanied her, to go to the prison and see
her father first, issuing orders, at the same time, to the

THE FAIR CAVALIERS. 227

officers of his palace to prepare for the reception of Fair
Blossom.

When Fair Blossom and the fair cavaliers, her maids,
entered the prison, the guards were ordered to go out ; and
the hundred maids who accompanied her threw off theii
veils, when lo ! instead of turbans and petticoats, they had
helmets and coats of mail, with scimitars and shields, and
wrinkles and whiskers, that struck terror into the hearts of
the bravest. They were, in fact, a trusty band of her
father's veterans, whom Fair Blossom had brought in the
guise of maids for the rescue of her father.

His chains and the chains of his officers were instantly
struck off, and he, his daughter, the officers, and the hundred
veterans, after slaying as many of the guards as came in
their way, rode off in the direction of their province in
Persia with such rapidity that the cavalry of the Tartar
Khan could not overtake them.

The Khan made no more endeavours to get Fair
Blossom into his harem ; for he contented himself with
saying, " It really is not worth one's while to fight for a
woman in this style ! "

The Prince remarked, " Fair Blossom was indeed a great
heroine. She accomplished by her courage and skill what
the officers of her father that were left behind, and that
were tried veterans, perhaps, failed to attempt. It is indeed
a pleasure to see the weak triumphing over the tyrants
who unjustly oppress them."

Here another Mandarin stood up, and said, " Sire, it is
indeed a pleasure to see the weak triumphing over theii
oppressors, even as the Lame Sultan triumphed over the
Goblin that carried off his sister Pakima."

The Prince requested the Mandarin to relate the story,
and he proceeded with it as follows :—
p 2

228

®!n> fam* Sultan,

In the country of the Seljuks there were three boys, who
had a little sister named Pakima. The youngest of the boys
was lame, but he was a very clever little fellow.

He directed his brothers in their sports, although he
could not take an active part in them. So, whenever they
had to go from place to place, the two brothers carried him
on their shoulders together with a bag, which he ever took
with him, and which was so wonderfully made that anything
and everything could be put into it without increasing its
bulk or weight. The brothers called him their dear little
Lame Sultan, and his bag the Wonderful Magic Bag.

One fine morning in the spring they went out gathering
flowers in the fields. One of the blossoms was very fine
and large. Little Pakima went to pluck it ; but it moved
from its place. As Pakima followed . the flower it went
further and further, eluding her grasp, till she left her
brothers at a great distance behind her.

She turned round, and finding none of her brothers near,
cried, "Oh, when shall I see my brothers again?"

" When you shall have kept house for me for a year and
six months ! " said a great Goblin, leaping out of the
blossom.

Poor Pakima was terrified to see the monster. But he
took her up on his shoulders and strode on in the direction
of the mountains which lifted up their lofty peaks in the
distant horizon.

The three brothers saw him carry off their sister,
although they were at a great distance. They shouted after
him ; but he pretended not to hear their cries, saying to
himself with a laugh, " I will roast you little urchins for my
wedding breakfast."

The Goblin said this in a whisper ; but the words

THE LAME SULTAN.

229

sounded like thunder in the ears of the brothers. So they
concluded that he was going to marry their little sister, and
that the wedding breakfast would come off on that day.

This alarmed the two brothers more. So they ran after
the Goblin, leaving the Lame Sultan behind. But before
they could proceed some distance the Goblin reached the

".TOOK KAKIMA WAS TERRIFIED" (/. 22t>).

base of the mountains, and planting one foot on their top,
as if he were going up a stile, drew the other after him, and
disappeared with little Pakima into a great cave, which he
called his castle.

The two brothers, with tears in their eyes, retraced their
steps to the spot where they had left the Lame Sultan, who,
instead of weeping, was smiling as though he were very
happy. So they said, " How now, dear brother, you seem
to feel no concern whatever at all that has happened ? "

But he replied, "I am glad for one moment that the
Goblin did not turn round and take you also on his

230 THE TALES OF THE SIXTY MANDARINS.

shoulders. I am sorry, of course, that Pakima has been
taken away. But, dear brothers, there is no good in tears.
Weeping is out of keeping with success."

" Oh, what shall we do, then ? " said the two brothers.

" Now go home and bring my bag," said the Lame
Sultan.

So they brought him his bag.

" Now carry me towards the castle of the Goblin on the
mountains," said he ; and they trudged on towards the
mountains, with their brother on their shoulders.

On the way there was an indigo vat. The Lame Sultan
bade his brothers fill a barrel with the indigo juice, and put
it into his bag. Then there was the trunk of a great palm
tree lying by the road, and he ordered them to thrust it into
the same. Then they saw an ass on a meadow, and the
Lame Sultan ordered him also into his capacious bag.

When they reached the foot of the mountains the Lame
Sultan observed a string of black ants marching from one
cavern to another, and ordered a good number of them into
his bag, while the brothers wondered what he wanted the
indigo juice, the palm tree, the ass, and the black ants
for !

When they had reached the castle of the Goblin, Pakima
said, " Dear brothers, I am so glad you have come. The
Goblin is out. Now get into the loft through the trap-door
in the ceiling."

So they got into the loft just as the Goblin got into his
castle, and said, " Pakima, I smell human beings ; are there
any here ? "

" Yes, there are ! " said the Lame Sultan from above.

The Goblin said, " Pakima, you know I proposed
bringing your brothers, and roasting them for our wedding
breakfast, on the day of our marriage — a year and six
months hence — when you shall have satisfied me with your

THE LAME SULTAN.

231

housekeeping. But I see we have one to day, as good
luck would have it ! "

The Lame Sultan replied, " Not one, but three, as good
luck would have it ! "

" Pray what are your names ? " said the Goblin, with a
grin.

" Blue Spit, Long Leg, and Loud Music," said the
Lame Sultan.

" Now let us see Blue Spit," said the Goblin.

Instantly the Lame Sultan emptied the barrel on his
head, saying, " Do you wish to see the mouth that spits
on you ? "

" Now let us see Long Leg," said the Goblin, with great
concern.

The Lame Sultan held out the palm tree through the
trap-door, saying, " This is but a toe. Do you wish to see
the whole foot and the leg ? "

The Goblin hastened to the door of his castle, and with
one foot in the open air, said, •" Ah, that must indeed be
the largest leg ! Now let me hear Loud Music, and I shall
have done ! "

Instantly the Lame Sultan let the black ants run into the
ears of the ass, and he roared louder than thunder.

The Goblin put his other foot out, and without turning
behind, ran away, exclaiming, "One goblin against three
such monsters is bad odds indeed ! "

The Lame Sultan and his two brothers led their sister,
little Pakima, triumphantly home. The Goblin was never
heard of in that part of the world thereafter ; and the three
brothers and their little sister gathered flowers in the fields
during many a spring thereafter, with their friends, in perfect
peace and security.

The Prince remarked, "The Lame Sultan was not a man

232 THE TALES OF THE SIXTY MANDARINS.

of words, but quite a man of action. He spake but so
much as was absolutely necessary. Nj man ever got any-
thing by repining. The Lame Sultan was aware of this ;
hence he was more successful than his brothers."

When the Prince had followed this remark with an im-
portant Hem ! and again settled himself to tranquillity,
another Mandarin stood up, and said, " Sire, just as men eat
a great deal more than nature requires, they speak a great
deal more than the subject of discourse actually needs.
Even as we have some men who eat in moderation and keep
up their health and strength in perfect order, we have had
some men who never spoke more than was absolutely neces-
sary for the subject at hand, like Prince Jubal, of the
Laconic Tartars."

The Prince requested the Mandarin to proceed with the
story, and he proceeded with it as follows : —

f ritta futml— tlj* Jttan 0f

In Mongolia there were, at one time, three Khanates in
a line along the Sagalean. The people of the first bore a
name which meant the Laconic Tartars, because they
generally gave very brief replies to queries addressed to
them. The Khan who ruled over these people had a son
named Jubal, who was reported the most laconic of his
laconic race.

The people of the second Khanate were known as the
Central Tartars. Their Khan had a daughter named
Danima, who was known as the most beautiful and accom-
plished of her sex in those parts.

The people of the third Khanate were known by
a name which meant the Voluble Tartars, for they
generally employed a great many words to express even the

PRINCE JUBAL — THE MAN OF BREVITY. 233

simplest and most ordinary things. Thus, if a stranger
asked one of this race, " What is your name ? " he would
reply, " Ah, it is a source of extreme gratification to me. as
it is to every other member of my race, to answer this
query. One makes a friend when he communicates his
name to a stranger, and loses a friend when he withholds
it from him. The elders of our country and creed — Ah !
what country on earth has not its elders and eminent men
of wisdom ? — have been very particular on this point. They
say — at least one of them, to be sure, I forget his name at
present— Ah, this is bad ! Let me see — Was he Mylo Ding
or Kalam Tuppan ? To be sure it was the former ! Oh, no,
it was the latter, as certainly as I am alive ! Ah, what
memories we have at times ! It was neither — it was Tuppan
Dimmy ! How we confound Dimmy with Ding ! "

At this stage of its trot, or something like it, the tongue
of the Voluble Tartar would be arrested by the stranger,
who, after a repetition of the query, perhaps a dozen times,
would get the right sort of reply, consisting of a word or
two.

The Khan of these people had a son named Didibal,
and he was reputed the most voluble of his voluble race.

The two princes were rival suitors for the hand of
Danima.

Jubal said to her one evening, " I love you," and this
was all that he ever said to her in the course of his court-
ship concerning his attachment to her.

Didibal went to her the next evening, as on many
another evening before, and said, " Illustrious princess — or
shall I call you my dear Danima ? — there is no reason why
hearts that have been so closely drawn to each other should
stand on insipid formalities, so, dear Danima, allow me for
one moment to disclose my inmost feelings and impressions
concerning your charms and accomplishments — aye, for one

234 THE TALES OF THE SIXTY MANDARINS.

moment only — for every moment of your happy and inno-
cent life is a delightful dream, and the greatest sin that man
could commit would be to mar it with importunate plaints,
howsoever sincere the heart from which they proceed ; so
allow me to tell you that the moon is ashamed of his light
when he sees the light of your countenance. The gazelles
hide their heads in the wilderness when they see your eyes.
Love is the noblest of feelings that exalt our nature. The
heart of Danima is the noblest edifice in which it can abide.
Ah, our hearts are indeed edifices ! — let none doubt it for
one moment ; and let me repeat with all the energy and
emphasis at my command — here, by the way, let me observe
that I mean no self-adulation ; for every man must possess
some amount of energy and emphasis, even as every muscle
has some tension, and everybody, however insignificant,
some heat in it — so let me repeat, with all the energy and
emphasis at my command, that love is the goddess that
dwells in the edifices of our hearts. * Now, what says my
Didibal ? ' is the yearning query of your heart, oh, Danima !
Yes — ' What says Didibal ? ' — there is much in the query.
To do justice to it, as to many other things on earth— for
here, by the way, it may be pointed out that we seldom do
full justice to things when we speak of them — it must be
urged that there is a whole world squeezed into it. Ay, it
is a mustard-seed into which all the mountains of Tartary
have been compressed. Now to the query again : it is pos-
sible to speak without a tongue, or write without a pen, if it
is possible to give a suitable reply to the query. For, the
fact of the matter is, Didibal knows not what to say, as his
heart has been taken away. This confession, so very enig-
matical, if not paradoxical, in its character, which I make in
the present congested state of my feelings, may appear at
the first blush a remonstrance. If it should be counted a
remonstrance, it is, indeed, a purblind remonstrance. Now

PRINCE JUBAL — THE MAN OF BREVITY. 235

to the query again : as his heart has been taken away, how is
it to be answered — or rather, by whom ? Ah, that proves to
be the next great query ! Query begetting query, impreg-
nated by curiosity, as money begets money, impregnated by
interest ! —

In this manner Didibal made a long speech, of which
what has been cited is but a portion of the preface, so full
of painful platitudes and tiresome truisms that the friends
of Jubal, his rival, called it " a great pudding of sand, with
pebbles for plums and chalk for sugar ! "

The Princess Danima said that she would consider the
claim of each to her love and esteem, and soon decide
between them. Didibal said he would win. Jubal shook
his head negatively. The negative nod of his rival incensed
Didibal to such a degree that he proposed an appeal to
arms on the fourth day thence, the interval being devoted
to the requisite preparations for the battle.

Jubal assembled his troops, and his friends gave out that
he would make three great speeches to his army at the rate
of one each day. The army and the people were in eager
expectation to hear their prince speak.

The first day Jubal surveyed his troops for a long time
with minute attention, and rising in his saddle addressed
them as follows: — "Shoes torn !"

This was the first great speech. Instantly every soldier
went to mend his shoes : for in those days every Mongol
soldier was his own cobbler.

The second great speech after the review on the second
day was : " Weapons rusty ! "

Instantly every soldier went to polish his sword and spear.

The third great speech on the third day was : —
" Forget defeat ! " and every soldier banished from his
mind the very idea of defeat, and stood resolved to fight foi
victory or death.

236 THE TALES OF THE SIXTY MANDARINS.

About the same time, Didibal made three great speeches
on the three consecutive days, each speech taking up a fore-
noon, while the soldiers and the people took the whole of
the afternoon in admiring and applauding it, and went to bed
at nightfall quite weary with admiring and applauding,
without attending to their arms and equipments.

"jUBAL POINTED THE ENEMY TO HIS MEN" (/. 237).

The Mongol historian, who has narrated the history of
these two princes — Jubal and Didibal — gives at length the
speeches of the latter on the three days. But we may rest
content with a few extracts.

On the first day, Didibal, speaking to his troops on the
condition of their shoes, said that, before proceeding to
speak to them on the subject, he found himself constrained
to place before them a lucid and comprehensive definition
of the article, and so defined a shoe as follows : — " That
pedestrial panoply of neat leather and nails which, under
such varied names as boots, shoes, sandals, and slippers, has

PRINCE JUBAL — THE MAN OF BREVITY. 237

been the perennial comfort of man and woman from time
immemorial ! "

The next day, Didibal spoke of rusty weapons in these
terms : — " What dross is in a mine of shining metals, what
jades are in a herd of high mettled horses, what drones are
in a hive of active bees, are rusty weapons in an armoury of
brilliant arms and accoutrements ! "

On the third day, speaking of defeat, Didibal said,
" Neither gods nor men should court defeat. But when it
cometh in spite of them, they should strive to hold their
own in spite of it. Such a spirit actuated the ancestors of
our glorious race, and such shall be our guide and impetus,
come what would ! "

On the fourth day the armies met. Didibal said to his
troops, " Heroes, highly disciplined warriors, redoubtable
revellers on the field of carnage — Victory or Death ! — that
shall be our motto, if motto we need, as we march against
the enemy. Now let the fire of courage that glows in the
furnace of your -hearts heat your swords and spears red-hot,
and thrust them with all-consuming energy into the hearts
of your foes. The annals of glory — ah, what memories that
magic word calls forth ! — especially of our great ancestors —
those valiant sons of fame that fought and won, on fields of
gore, in times of yore !

In this style Didibal was proceeding with his high-
spirited harangue to his troops, when Jubal pointed the
enemy to his men, and said, " Turn not ! "

They turned not, but advanced so steadily, and
in such compact order, that Didibal's men threw down
their weapons on the field, and fled so precipitately, that,
as their enemies remarked, "their heels touched their
helmets ! "

The Princess Danima was apprised of the result of
the battle, and gave her hand to the man of brevity, who

238 THE TALES OF THE SIXTY MANDARINS.

was the victor, saying, " A word of his is worth a volume of
the other ! "

These incidents in the lives of the rival Princes gave
rise to a saying in the three Khanates to this effect : — " I f
you would win like Jubal, never woo like Didibal ; " while
the Tartars in that part of the world long spoke of such
things as "Jubalic brevity" and " Didibalic volubility."

Didibal never forgave his rival Jubal, but spent the re-
mainder of his life in holding up his character in the blackest
colours to his own people, who liked him more and more in
proportion to the increase of his ill-will and volubility
against his happy rival ; while the latter simply replied with
a negative nod whenever his friends gave him an account
of the doings of Didibal, as much as if he meant to say,
" Words are not actions — so let him speak as long as he
has breath to do so ! "

The Prince remarked, "Jubal was, indeed, a man of
few words. Perhaps his intelligent friends often explained
to people his affirmative and negative nods, when they were
the only replies he made."

The Prince would then have rested after the fatigues of
thought which had produced so valuable a suggestion, but
when another Mandarin stood up, and said, " Sire, one may
not possess even the faculty of speech, 'like the Braying
Mandarin, yet, if he should have intelligent people around
him, he may save an empire from ruin ! "

The Prince, opening his eyes widely, exclaimed, " Good
Mandarin, you spoke of the Braying Mandarin, did you not ?
Who was he ? Surely this is the first time we hear of him !
And it is, indeed, a curious name he bears ! "

The Mandarin related the story as follows, after a few
prefatory remarks :—

239

Uraging JJlanlrarht.

In ancient times, when the Tartars made constant in-
cursions into the Empire of China, there was an Emperor
who spent the revenues of the country in dissipation, and
turned a deaf ear to the remonstrances of his ministers.
Among these, the oldest, who was the Prime Minister, was
a very wise and patriotic statesman.

One day, as his Majesty was proceeding to that part of
his palace where some of his dissolute courtiers were await-
ing his arrival, a courier came up, and said, " Sire, the
Tartar Khan, with a hundred thousand horsemen, is on his
way to the capital of the Celestial Empire."

Instantly the Emperor ordered the Prime Minister to
assemble the troops.

But the troops said, " We have not received our pay for
the past three years. Unless we are paid all the arrears at
once, we will not move a step."

So the Emperor assembled the representatives ot the
people, and solicited their aid.

They said, " All the taxes for the year have been paid
down. Your Majesty has no proper right to demand
more."

But as his Majesty pressed them to contribute they
went home, and returned at the head of rebellious bands
more formidably arrayed than the army itself.

Just then a courier arrived from the Tartar Khan with
this message : —

" The army of the Celestial Empire holds back. The
people have risen in revolt. The Exchequer is empty.
These facts we have ascertained through our spies. We
have a hundred thousand horses. We are determined to
win. Who will repel our attack ? ''

240 THE TALES OF THE SIXTY MANDARINS.

The patriotic Prime Minister was so provoked by this
message from the enemy, that he instantly exclaimed, in a
defiant mood, " An ass will ! " and despatched the laconic
reply to the Tartar Khan.

The Emperor and the Prime Minister again laid before
the people the very serious condition of affairs, and besought
them to contribute, promising that for three years following
all taxes would be remitted.

But they were inexorable.

Thereupon the Prime Minister addressed the Emperor
as follows : — " Sire, there is an old proverb that the public
have a hundred eyes and a thousand ears ; but, certainly,
the public of the Celestial Empire must see with strange
eyes, and hear with strange ears, when they would not
realise the danger that threatens them, and the destruction
that knocks at their very door. But there is a way ol
making them pay."

Here the Prime Minister paused.

The Prime Minister continued, " If your Majesty will
solemnly promise to return to the righteous ways of the
great Imperial sages, your ancestors, I shall pay down the
arrears due to the army in the course of an afternoon, send
it in the evening against the Tartars, and show it to your
Majesty as it returns, with' flying colours, the next morning,
after routing the barbarians."

The Emperor took a solemn oath that he would give up
his dissolute habits altogether, saying, " Henceforth, I am a
different man."

Instantly the Prime Minister purchased from a poor
washerman, who lived at some distance from the palace, an
old jaded donkey, got it painted in brilliant colours, with
the emblem of the Imperial Dragon on its forehead, and
issued a proclamation, in the name of his Majesty, to this
effect :—

THE BRAYING MANDARIN. 241

" In the Imperial Archives deposited in our palace, for
our special guidance from time to time, it is recorded that
when three great evils occur together — viz., when foreign
foes threaten the Empire, the army holds back, and the
people revolt — a miracle would save the throne. We sent
up our supplications to heaven, and have been told that a
donkey, with the Imperial Dragon — heaven bless the
emblem for ever ! — on its forehead, would come out of the
Peiho at noon, on the eighth day hence, just as the Tartars
come within a day's march of the capital, that in the evening
our mighty army would march out, and that the next morn-
ing it would return to the city with flying colours, after
routing the barbarians."

This proclamation was accompanied by a request to
people of all denominations, and trades, and professions, to
join the Prime Minister in giving publicity to the fact.

The first to respond to this call was a Jewish Rabbi, who
preached a sermon in his synagogue, adducing what he
called auxiliary testimony to the existence of such wonderful
asses, and concluded with writing a book on the subject.
There was such a demand for the book, that the one
hundred and thirty-seventh edition had to be brought out
before the donkey had actually appeared.

The next people to move in the matter were the Im-
perial Scribes. These were a class of .men employed by the
State in those days to give publicity to its edicts by com-
menting freely on their merits.

So the Scribes were divided into two classes : those
who spoke in favour of these edicts, and those who opposed
them. These two factions were ever at war.

According to the historian who has recorded the story
of the Braying Mandarin, some of the Scribes had quills
with one hundred horse power; some with two hundred
horse power ; some with three hundred horse power.

242 THE TALES OF THE SIXTY MANDARINS.

Some could turn out a column per minute ; some two
columns per minute; some three columns per minute, on
any most abstruse subject, on any most out-of-the-way
subject, and on all subjects existent, or non-existent,
from a horseshoe to a flying elephant's nest.

When the scribbling afflatus was on them, some con-
sidered themselves High Priests, some Prime Ministers,
some autocrats with unbounded authority.

When their pugnacious propensities were roused by the
growls of militant contemporaries, especially of the other
faction, some fought like lions, calling their quills claws,
some like policemen, calling their quills batons, and some
like scorpions, calling their quills stings.

When the Prime Minister had issued the proclamation,
he sent a secret note to the two factions, that they should
unite in this instance in recommending the project to the
people.

So the Imperial Scribes laid their animosities aside, and
bringing all their energies to bear upon the subject, wrote
at length, exhorting the people to join the Emperor and the
Prime Minister in giving a fitting reception to the expected
hero, every one of them concluding with these words :—

" As we had already predicted, the Emperor has been
driven to the necessity of invoking the aid of Heaven. We
need hardly point out to the public of the Celestial Empire
that our prediction in this instance, as in many another
instance before, has been verified by the incontrovertible
logic of facts."

Thirdly, the tradesmen of the Imperial City contributed
the facilities in their power for the accomplishment of the
Prime Minister's project. Everywhere, with that shrewd-
ness which characterises the tradesmen of the Celestial
Empire, they sold donkey shoes, donkey trowsers, donkey
spectacles, donkey meat, donkey fish, donkey eggs, djnkey

THE BRAYING MANDARIN. 243

bags, donkey belts, and innumerable other things of the
kind.

In justice to these benevolent tradesmen, who were
more bent upon making the public comfortable and happy
than lining their own purses, the historian points out that
the articles of attire were for wear while proceeding to see
the donkey, and the articles of consumption for break-
fast on the morning of the eventful day on which he was
expected.

When ample publicity had been given to the proclama-
tion by all these means, the people, that had taken up
arms everywhere, threw them down and repaired to the
banks of the Peiho, to witness the advent of the wonderful
donkey.

This was a windfall to all who had lodgings to let
along the river. They charged for sleeping rooms, sitting
rooms, standing rooms, smoking rooms, coughing rooms,
and sneezing rooms, and various other kinds of rooms by
the inch, and made enormous fortunes, some of them ex-
pressing regret that they could not charge for the air
men consumed.

The historian here points out, that the people who took
up lodgings along the river paid for their lodgings alone
twenty times as much as they would have paid if they had
complied with the request of the Emperor to contribute
towards the emergency.

On the eighth day the people thronged to the banks of
the Peiho in such numbers that there was hardly room on
the ground to plant a needle. On all sides petty traders
vended their wares. The street- boys, who form a tribe by
themselves in every great city of the Celestial Empire, made
themselves conspicuous everywhere with huge placards,
on which were visible such stirring words as^-" The Advent
of the Wonderful Donkey ! " — " Our Illustrious Four-footed

244 THE TALES OF THE SIXTY MANDARINS.

Visitor from the Peiho ! " — " The Most Sensational Event of
the Century ! " which the boys also shouted forth in a
most hideous fashion to attract the attention of the public.

The air resounded on all sides with the loud harangues
of prophets and philosophers, who assured their audiences
that the advent of the hero of the day had been revealed
long before, and dwelt with special emphasis on his remark-
able virtues, summoning to their aid all the enthusiasm and
rhetoric at their command, and citing at the same time
a great many texts from the huge volumes in the Im-
perial library, in corroboration of their assertions, which
the people could not well hear in the midst of the
deafening din of gongs and cymbals which resounded on
all sides.

At noon exactly there was a blast of trumpets, and
an announcement to the effect that the donkey had just
risen from the Peiho, and arrived at a grand pavilion
erected for his reception.

Everybody was eager to get into the pavilion, and
pressed forward towards its entrance.

Just then the Prime Minister, who had been actively
superintending the operations in holiday costume, stepped
forth, and addressed the surging masses as follows : —

" I am but a humble servant of the Emperor and of
the Celestials, who are his subjects. So let me lay the
actual state of affairs before my worthy masters. There
is not enough of space in the pavilion to contain so many
at one and the same time. How shall we get over the
difficulty?"

The people with one voice replied, "If so, fix your
fee, and let all those who can afford to pay it get in and
see."

The Prime Minister pretended to yield implicit obedience
to the public will, and fixed the fee. As everybody was

THE BRAYING MANDARIN. 245

eager to see the donkey, everybody paid the fee. Such
numbers came and paid their fees that in the course of the
afternoon the Imperial treasury had more money in it than
it ever before had from all the taxes of a decade put
together.

The officers and the army had all the arrears at once,
with a promise of twice as much if they returned victorious.
So they marched against the Tartars that evening, and
returned the next morning with flying colours, after routing
the barbarians.

As the troops entered the city triumphantly, the Prime
Minister pointed them out to his Majesty from the window
of the Imperial chamber, saying, " Sire, the ass has filled
the Imperial coffers, routed the one hundred thousand
horses of the barbarians, and saved the throne ! " It also
paid the troops the promised reward.

His Majesty rejoiced to see all that had happened. So
he issued another proclamation to the effect that none in
the Celestial Empire should refer to the animal under the
name that naturally belonged to it, but call it the Beatified
Mandarin. But the people got into the habit of calling it
the Braying Mandarin, as the name came to their lips more
easily and naturally than the title in the Imperial proclama-
tion.

Of course, all the people of the Celestial Empire, which
is the most populous empire in the world, could not see
the Braying Mandarin at one and the same time. So they
came day after day from the remotest provinces of it,
impelled by curiosity to see the wonderful animal that had
saved the country from perdition. The Prime Minister
therefore continued to levy the fees as ever, and they
became an enormous source of revenue to the Empire. In
fact, quite another exchequer had to be built to put the fees
in, and quite another office created to look after its affairs.

246 THE TALES OF THE SIXTY MANDARINS.

There is a proverb in the Celestial Empire which says,
" Prom one effort of the wise a thousand benefits arise."
Accordingly, a great many callings and trades arose from the
fact of so many people coming to see the Braying Man-
darin ; one of the most noteworthy of these trades was the
following.

The dealers in donkeys in the Celestial Empire, some
time after the advent of the wonderful animal, had the
sagacity to trace out a great many donkeys that belonged to
the same breed as the Braying Mandarin, and brought them
to the Imperial city.

So many rushed to purchase the animals that prices ran
high, profits became incredibly great, and companies sprang
up on all sides with the rapidity of the magic gourd, for the
propagation of the illustrious breed for which such a demand
had arisen among a highly intelligent and appreciative
public. Everybody invested his spare cash in the specula-
tion— so much so, that for a long time the capitalists of the
Celestial Empire maintained — and with good reason, of
course — that the safest and most advantageous investment
was in the stocks of the Braying Mandarin.

The advent of the Braying Mandarin gave rise to a
great many amusing anecdotes.

This was one of them.

The poor washerman who had parted with the animal
for a price, whose only good fortune appeared to have
consisted in his having been the original possessor of the
animal, and who had not the remotest idea of its present
prosperity and pre-eminence— for the Prime Minister care-
fully concealed its antecedents — saved a small sum out of
his weekly earnings, and at the end of a year had enough to
cover the fee to get into the pavilion.

When he saw the Braying Mandarin, he exclaimed,
" Ah, this is very much like my old donkey — Padalang ! —

THE BRAYING MANDARIN. 2.17

with this difference, that it has the Imperial dragon painted
on its forehead ! "

But the guards in attendance took him before a Man-
darin, who was a magistrate, and he sent him to prison for a
year and six months, for his irreverent conduct towards the
Beatified Mandarin.

The poor washerman, who had not heard this name
which the Mandarin mentioned in his sentence, said he
knew nothing of such an animal, but that he had been to
see the Braying Mandarin.

The Mandarin gave him another six months, observing,
" In a court of justice, you must use only such names as
are recognised in the Imperial edicts, which form the law
of the country. You have, therefore, been guilty of another
crime in calling the Beatified Mandarin by a name which,
in the opinion of this court, is but an echo of the
Imperial will, is not only vulgar, but of questionable
propriety."

The Prince remarked : " It was, indeed, very wrong of
the people to have so persistently refused to help the
Emperor when the country was threatened by such a
dangerous foe. They might have taken advantage of the
opportunity to impose such restrictions on his Majesty's
private conduct as would conduce to his own benefit and
the benefit of his subjects at large. But for the stratagem
adopted by his Prime Minister, disastrous results must have
ensued."

Here another Mandarin got up, and said : " Sire, the
people of the Celestial Empire on this occasion were as
persistently blind to their own interests as the idle man
who was set right by the elf."

The Prince requested the Mandarin to relate the story,
and he proceeded with it as follows : —

248

JM* jKan anb ifc (Rlf.

In one of the western provinces of the Celestial Empiie
there was a man named Kairath Vangi, who spent his time
in chatting with his neighbours, and concerned himself in
everybody's business but his own. For instance, if a
neighbour's waggon stuck in the mud at some distance from
the village, Kairath Vangi was the first to go there and put
his shoulder to the wheel.

But he had a cart whose wheels he seldom greased, and

"KAIRATH VANGI WAS THE FIRST TO RUN AFTER IT "

which he never drove, saying, <; By the time I set my cart
in driving order, the cart of my life may reach its
destination — who knows it will not ? "

If the thatch of a neighbour's cottage flew away in the
wind, Kairath Vangi was the first to run after it, and bring
it back to its place on the roof.

But he lived in a hut, one-half of which had become a
heap of ruins, and which he never attempted to repair,
saying, " Life is a bubble. It may burst before the other

THE IDLE MAN AND THE ELF 249

half of the hut, which is in good order, and which is quite
enough for my purposes, drops down, and I may be no
more ; so I need not trouble myself about setting my hut
in order."

If the straw in the trough of a neighbour's cow ran
short, Kairath Vangi was the first to observe it, and supply
the deficiency. But he had a cow which grew leaner and
leaner every day, because he gave it nothing to eat —
turning it adrift on the common, where there was hardly a
blade of grass, saying, " Well, every animal has its allotted
period of life. The cow will certainly live for the period
for which it has been destined to live. Neither good
feeding will keep it longer, nor bad feeding curtail its life."

His own means of subsistence were almost gone. Yet he
said to himself, " How do the birds of the air live ? How
do the beasts in the wilderness live ? Certainly, he that
has planted the tree must see to its watering ! "

In spite of all his philosophy — and Kairath Vangi
fancied he had a great deal of it — he summed up his happi-
ness thus, " As to work, why, that I must shirk. To get up
at noon, I consider too soon. What if I am no bread-winner,
yet I shall enjoy my dinner."

But as it was not easy to get a good dinner in the
Celestial Empire without being an active bread-winner, or
dependent upon somebody else who was, or had been, a
bread-winner by toil or plunder — and we may be sure it is
the same all the world over — Kairath Vangi was obliged to
curry favour with his neighbours, and be ever on the look-
out for an opportunity to get in, when they kept a good
table, and were in a mood to admit him.

Again, Kairath Vangi had a secret desire to marry, and
some day earn the coveted title of a father. But every
woman whom he thought of turned away from him, saying
he was " Fair as an ape, and provident as a butterfly !"

250 THE TALES OF THE SIXTY

But Kairath Vangi was not disconcerted in the least.
He persisted in making the acquaintance of the young
ladies in the neighbourhood, saying, "If a man should
make the acquaintance of a hundred young ladies, some
one of them ought to take a fancy to him some day, and
return his love."

An Elf, named Mima, had long been watching his con-
duct, and said to herself, " This man is an inveterate idler
and a scandal to his race. I must knock his idleness out of
him, and his aggravating philosophy, to boot."

So she said to him, " Good Kairath Vangi, I have been
long in love with you. Will you marry me? You need not
work at all ; I shall maintain you with the proceeds of my
labour."

Kairath Vangi said to himself, " Ah ! the philosophy in
my saying about making the acquaintance of a hundred
young ladies has proved itself! I get a wife, and ease
for life ! I need not trouble myself about work any more ! "

So he married the Elf.

Now, this Elf, Mima, had the wonderful power of pro-
viding babies at the rate of one baby a day. So the day
after their marriage a baby appeared.

Mima said, " Dear husband, I am so sorry to send you
to work. The sun may burn your fine face and the wind
may give you a cold. But it is inevitable, that we might
maintain ourselves and this baby. So soon as I am able, I
will go to work, and let you live as happily as ever."

Kairath Vangi flattered himself with the hope that he
had to work only for a day or two, and then be relieved by
his wife, when he might return to his old ways. But the
next day another baby was born. So they had to feed
and clothe two babies. Kairath Vangi again flattered
himself with the hope that his wife would soon relieve
him. So he went to work again. The next day

THE TDLE MAN AND THE ELF. 253

another baby was born, and he had to play the same
part again.

Thus in the course of a year the hut, or the part of it
that was habitable, was filled with babies. Some got into
the kitchen, some got into the pantry, some crept over the
walls, some stuck to the ceiling, some tumbled on the roof,
some rolled in the garden. There was hardly an inch of
space where there was not a baby, and hardly a baby that
had not an inch of space for itself, somewhere in the hut
or the garden. This state of affairs extremely alarmed
Kairath Vangi.

Again, the quantity of food they consumed was
enormous. As Kairath Vangi remarked, with a shudder,
they required a lake of milk and a mountain of biscuit
every day ! In addition to his being thus profoundly
impressed with the magnitude of the requirements of baby
hunger, he had a good specimen of what some people call
baby music, for all the three hundred and odd babies
cried at times in a chorus ; at times two babies would cry, ,
as if they sang a duet.

At times, only one baby would strike up a low note, and
then there would be the chorus again in full swing, thus
exhibiting in the course of every hour all that rich variety of
voice — high and low, sharp and flat, grave and gay — with
which babies are specially gifted.

During the night, if ever there was a moment of silence,
and he composed himself to sleep, Mima would startle him
with the cry, " Dear husband, some baby has rolled on to
the ground ! "

Instantly Kairath Vangi would start to his feet in quest
of the truant, lamenting the hour he was born. When
he had put it to bed, another would play the same trick ;
then a third, then a fourth, and so on.

This proved to him with a vengeance the false philosophy

254 THE TALES OF THE SIXTY MANDARINS.

in his favourite saying, "Rising at noon was rising too
soon."

Instead of rising at such a late hour, he rose before his
neighbours, and went to bed after them, seldom enjoying
the luxury of a quiet wink of sleep.

If ever he had some leisure in the week, and showed an
inclination to go to gossip with his neighbours, Mima
brought him the babies one by one, saying, "Ah, dear
husband, the poor dear little ones seldom get a kiss from
you ! "

So Kairath Vangi would fall to kissing the babies. Of
course, kissing every one such a hive of babies will take
time ; so, before he had kissed half the family, his leisure
hour was gone.

Thus, without sleep, without leisure, without any chance
of gossiping with his neighbours, poor Kairath Vangi was
constrained to work. He worked hard and well. Soon
he converted his cart into a number of waggons, with
well-harnessed teams, his hut into a large and commodious
house, his cow into a herd, and showed signs of remark-
able progress in every other respect

His neighbours fancied he had acquired some secret of
making wealth which they had not, and asked him what it was.

He replied, " Ah ! if you had a baby every day, you
would soon find out where the secret lay ! "

The Prince observed, with a smile : " Poor Kairath
Vangi eventually gave expression to sentiments that had not
originally formed a part of his philosophy."

Then another Mandarin stood up and said, " Sire, like
the two great philosophers of the Imperial city, Kairath
Vangi had to give such sentiments a niche in the temple
of his wisdom because experience forced them upon his
attention,"

THE Two PHILOSOPHERS. 255

The Prince requested the Mandarin to relate the story
of the Two Philosophers and he proceeded with it as
follows : —

In the city of Pekin there were two philosophers, named
Si Melang Ho and DI Telang Ho, who were generally
known by the abbreviated forms of their names — Melang and
Telang. They had read a great many books, discussed a
great many problems, and contracted a great many habits,
conspicuous among which were demure silence and deep
meditation ; the philosophers observing, " On the still waters
of the Lake of Silence repose the swans, Sanctity and
Wisdom."

"TWO PHILOSOPHERS."

Each of these philosophers had conceived an utter con-
tempt for human kind and its enjoyments, saying, " This
world is a dream ; and all the men and women in it are
phantoms." This contempt, says the biographer of these
great men, was increased tenfold after a certain incident
which happened to them at a boarding-house in the Im-
perial city.

One evening the landlady asked them what philosophy
was. They said it was not easy to explain the term, but
that, in brief, it involved superior knowledge and wisdom
about some of the most important problems of life. The

256 THE TALES OF THE SIXTY MANDARIXS.

landlady asked if they had a good recipe in the philosophy
for making soup of the nest of the eider duck, which is a
well-known delicacy throughout the Celestial Empire, and
which therefore everybody, including the two philosophers,
prized highly.

But the philosophers indignantly replied, " Philosophy
is not cookery."

" I thought it was," said the landlady.

" What made you think so ? " cried the philosophers,
whose feelings were outraged by this reply.

The irrepressible landlady replied, " Ah ! you said it had
something to do with the most important problems of life !
These are three, as you and everybody else must admit —
Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner. To devise what we can
have for each is to solve the problem ! "

This reply confirmed the opinion of the philosophers
that human kind is more solicitous about the gratification
of its animal appetites and passions than the attainment of
true wisdom. Each philosopher, at that period, in the
Celestial Empire belonged to what he called his school.
Now, a philosopher's school, in those days, was not like a
boys' school, with sceptred pedagogues wielding unbounded
sway over their juvenile subjects. It was a guild, the
members of which entertained a certain opinion.

For instance, if a boy said, rightly or wrongly, that
oysters were cheap in autumn, and another said " No," and
the two went to the philosophers, they would say the first
boy belonged to the school of the Autumnal Oysterians,
and the second to the school of the Non-Autumnal
Oysterians.

As these philosophers constantly endeavoured to impress
on the minds of their pupils, each scnool might consist of
one person, or two persons, or twenty persons, or two
hundred thousand persons. As an example of the first,

THE Two PHILOSOPHERS. 257

they often cited a certain man in Pekin, who said that all
the old women in that city, when they died, instead of
receiving the burial due to people in the Celestial Empire,
were converted into meat for the cats, dogs, and other
inferior animals in it ; for they assumed that he could be
the only man who entertained such an inhuman and irre-
verent opinion.

As an example of the second, they cited a certain
married couple in Pekin, who maintained that they were the
most loving and happy pair in that city.

These philosophers had also what they called their
Doctrines and Laws. Now, it is not very easy to explain
the meanings of these terms, as they were understood by
the philosophers ; but we may illustrate them. Suppose a
husband quarrelled with his wife, or a wife with her husband,
Melang and Telang said they quarrelled because there had
been an aberration from the Law of the Equilibrium of
the Affections.

If the question arose whether the husband and wife
would make it up between themselves, Melang would say,
" Well, brother Telang, you know I believe in the doctrine
of the Ultimate Separation of the Sexes ; so I maintain that
they will not unite."

Telang would say, " Well, brother Melang, you .know
I believe in the doctrine of the Ultimate Adhesion of the
Sexes ; so I maintain that they will unite."

Again, if two dogs came together in the streets, or two
cats met each other on the roof, or the cock crowed in the
morning, or a horse reared its hind legs and kicked the
groom, or some unprincipled man in authority, in a fit of
rage, ordered the bastinado to the man of wealth who would
not give him presents, or a lover bent the knee before his
mistress, calling her his goddess, and appreciating her
beauty and accomplishments in sundry other ways, or a

B

258 THE TALES OF THE SIXTY MANDARINS.

glutton died of surfeit, the philosophers ascribed them all
to certain laws, which they enunciated respectively under
such learned titles as Canine Cognitions, Feline Frailties,
Matutinal Intonations, Equestrian Energy, Emotional
Ebullitions, ^Esthetic Genuflections, and Gastronomical
Conclusions.

They had a great many other phrases, of a miscellaneous
character, in their philosophical vocabulary. If a boy cried
for cake, and his mother gave it to him, they called it the
Logic of Tears. A wise painter they called a Philosopher
of the Pencil. A wise barber, in their solicitude to subor-
dinate every art and profession to philosophy, they called a
Philosopher of the Razor and the Strop.

In this manner these philosophers had a great many
fine phrases, in which they embalmed some of the most
ordinary ideas and incidents of life, and constantly cited
them in the course of their dissertations.

One day they were walking through the streets of the
Imperial city, studying life, and stocking their overburdened
memories with fresh facts and phrases, and drawing moral
and philosophical conclusions at every step. In a certain
street they found a Manchur merchant with a shuttlecock
in his hand, shouting, " I give this to the cleverest fighter
among the boys here."

Instantly a number of little boys gathered round the
merchant.

Melang said, " Ah, good brother Telang, here is a scene
for study ! How the boys have verified the law of Juvenile
Concentration ! "

Then the boys began to fight each other furiously for the
prize.

Telang said it was in strict conformity with the law of
Puerile Pugnacity.

Then one of the boys knocked the others down, one

THE Two PHILOSOPHERS. 259

after another, and got the shuttlecock, while the rest lay
rolling helplessly on the ground.

Melang said, " Ah ! this is in strict conformity with
the great law of the Survival of the Strongest and the
Fittest.

Then they marched a step further to study the fallen
boys more closely, when a little fellow, who had been
rolling on the ground, apparently in a piteous condition,
started up, and at a bound wrenched the prize from
the victor, and laid him hopelessly grovelling on the
ground.

Melang paused for a moment, and said, " Ah ! what
is this strange law, brother Telang?"

Telang said, " Well, brother, it is a law which we have
not in our books. But none the less is it a law ; so
we ought to give it a name this moment. Well, we may
call it the Great Law of the Revival of the Weakest."

The Prince remarked, with a smile, " The philosophers
had, no doubt, a good opportunity to apply their principles,
and deduce conclusions from them, in the scene of the
shuttlecock, and the little boys struggling for it. But
what a misfortune it was to the boy who fancied he had
conquered all his companions to be so suddenly hurled
down by the little fellow ! "

Here another Mandarin stood up, and said, "Sire,
it must have been as great a surprise to the boy who
was at first victorious to be so suddenly pulled down
from his triumphant position as it was to Ting Chang
to meet with ignominy and defeat from the Bamboo Devil,
after having subdued every fiend in and around the country
where he lived."

The Prince requested him to relate the story, and
the Mandarin proceeded with it as follows : —
it '2

Near the great wall of the Celestial Empire there lived
in a village a man named Ting Chang, who called himself
a great magician. He said he was very old, and knew
a great many fiends who were afraid of him.

For instance, he spoke of the Smoke Fiend, the Fire
Fiend, the Wind Fiend, the Wood Fiend, and the Wall Fiend
in terms of extreme familiarity.

When he spoke of the last, he invariably pointed to
the great wall, and said, " Do you know how that wall came
into existence ? "

The people would say " No."

He would say, " Well, it was in this manner. There
was a great Emperor of the Celestials, who had an only
daughter. She was very fair. A fiend one day fell in love
with her, and told the Emperor, her father, that he wished to
have her for his bride.

"The Emperor, wishing to know the qualifications
of the fiend who desired to become his son-in-law, asked
him in what he excelled.

" He said he was a great builder.

" ' If so/ said the Emperor, ' build me a great wall
round the Celestial Empire.'

" Instantly he built the wall, and asked for his daughter.

" I was then close by.

" The Emperor said, ' Ah ! Ting Chang, what shall we
do?'

"I said, 'Your Majesty has only to mention my name to
the fiend, and leave the rest to me.'

" So the Emperor mentioned my name.
" The fiend exclaimed, ' Ah ! I can throw a great wall
round the Celestial Empire in no time. But neither I, nor

THE BAMBOO FIEND.

261

all the fiends that form my band, can ever hope to throw
an obstacle in the way of the Magician, Ting Chang, when
he has decided to do a thing.'

" So saying, the fiend came to me, and said, ' Master
Ting Chang, what is thy bidding ? '

"' Get into the wall, and never leave it till I bid you do
so/ said I.

" ' I am thy obedient slave, Master Ting Chang,' said he,
and got into the wall, where he is confined to this day. At

I

"SENDING HIM OUT OP THE NEIGHBOURHOOD."

times he sighs bitterly, and as often as he does so a crevice
appears in the wall, which those who are not acquainted
with the real state of affairs foolishly ascribe to the action
of Time and the Elements."

The credulous people of the place believed the story of
Ting Chang, and paid him the homage due to a man of
superior learning and wisdom.

Now, really this Ting Chang was a dreadful impostor.
No fiend had ever become his slave. If a cat took it into
his head to regale people with his caterwauling, and dis-
turb their slumbers of a night, Ting Chang called him a
Cat Fiend, and had his fee for sending him out of the
neighbourhood.

262 THE TALES OF THE SIXTY MANDARINS.

If a drought or famine came over the province, he drove
out the Drought Fiend or the Famine Fiend, and had a
heavy fee in every case. In this manner he made plenty
of money by his pretensions.

The name of Ting Chang spread over the whole province
as that of a potent magician, who had unbounded sway over
the spirit and the fiend world.

The Mandarin of the province had an only daughter,
who had been ill for some time. So he sent for Ting Chang,
and laid her case before him.

Ting Chang said, " Unless I see the lady, I cannot give
an opinion about her malady."

With great difficulty they made such arrangements as
would enable Ting Chang to see her.

When he saw her, he exclaimed, " Ah, what a fair young
lady ! I must have her for my wife ! "

With this resolution, Ting Chang told the Mandarin, in
a whisper, that his daughter had what magicians called the
Love Fiend.

The Mandarin requested him to exorcise the demon
without delay.

Ting Chang put on a very serious countenance, and
said, " But it is no easy task. I cannot undertake to
exorcise the fiend unless your Excellency issues strict
orders that any and every direction I give should be carried
out at once."

The Mandarin, who was solicitous about the health of
his child, said, " Your directions shall be strictly followed."

The Mandarin having presently observed that the
incantations to drive out the Love Fiend really meant the
entrapping of his daughter into marriage with Ting Chang,
ordered his men to bind Ting Chang hand and foot, arid
give him the bastinado.

Accordingly, they bound him hand and foot, and laid

THE FIVE PRINCES THAT LOVED A FAIRY. 263

him on the ground, while one of them brought the great
bamboo stick with which he was to be flogged.

Ting Chang asked what that was.

The Mandarin replied, "Ah, Ting Chang, it is the
Bamboo Fiend ! "

Ting Chang found his master in the Bamboo Fiend,
which obtained also such mastery over all the other fiends,
that Ting Chang never named them any more.

Poor Ting Chang could give no reply, he was so faint
and thirsty. He went home, and never thought of the
Love Fiend or any other fiend thereafter."

Along the great wall of the Celestial Empire the people
have to this day a saying that " the best cure for the Love
Fiend is the Bamboo Devil."

The Prince observed, with a smile, "The Love Fiend
Is, indeed, the most mischievous fiend. Everything seemed
to go on very well with Ting Chang till he roused him from
his slumbers."

Here another Mandarin stood up, and said, "Sire,
everything may go on very well with people till they come
in contact with the Love Fiend, as in the case of the Five
Princes, Ya, Ka, Ma, Na, Sa, who lived on terms of un-
wonted harmony and friendship till they met him in the
enchanting form of a Fairy."

The Prince requested the Mandarin to relate the story,
and he proceeded with it as follows : —

Jftfo Jinnee* tljat !0tob a

In a certain country not far from the Celestial Empire,
there were five princes, who were such great friends that
they called themselves Ya, Ka, Ma, Na, Sa, meaning thereby

264 THE TALES OF THE SIXTY MANDARINS.

that just as the vowel in all the words was the same, they
had the same spirit, though their bodies differed like the
consonants.

They ate out of one dish, they slept in one bed, and sat,
rose, walked, and talked like one man. So if one sneezed,
all the rest sneezed ; if one coughed, all the rest coughed ;
if one got a head-ache, all the rest got it ; if one sprained
his foot, all the rest did the same ; if one said he liked an
egg, all the rest liked it ; if one said he hated jams and
cheese-cakes, all the rest hated them.

£»5.

WALKED AND TALKED LTKE ONE MAN."

If one said he felt fidgety in bed, all the rest felt the
same ; if one snored, all the rest did. When they .were
at school, the pedagogue had to give them all lessons at one
and the same time, and hear them recited at one and the
same time. If one had a bad memory over a lesson, all the
rest had it ; and if one was entitled to a flogging, all the
rest went in for it at the same time.

But as the pedagogue had but one flogging hand : the
right — for pedagogues seldom flog with the left, as every

THE FIVE PRINCES THAT LOVED A FAIRY. 265

school-going boy knows — he could not flog the princes
as they required. So he never flogged them.

There is a curious anecdote in connection with the
scholastic career of these princes. One day a man, who
said he was a logician and philosopher, met them at school,
and said, in sport, he would give some one of them that
would take it a nice plaything called a Dilemma.

They replied they wanted five — one for each.

But he said, "What do you want five for? You may
count yourself extremely fortunate if you can manage with
one."

The princes asked the logician for the thing.

He said, " You will see it some day. It is a very nice
thing to look at."

Of course the whole discourse on the subject was a
hoax, as the logician knew very well. But the princes
believed what he said, and were eagerly watching at every
turn in their transactions for the very nice-looking thing,
Dilemma.

These five princes, Ya, Ka, Ma, Na, Sa, often rode out
into the country in quest of various amusements. If a fence
was in the way, they jumped over it together. If one
caught a hare, he would not say he caught it, but they — all
the five — caught it. If one threw a stone at a frog in the
pond, all the rest hit the same poor thing. If one gave a
piece of copper to a poor country beggar, all the rest gave
him a piece per head.

If, while passing through the woods, one whooped like
a savage, all the rest whooped alike. If one screeched like
an owl, all the rest imitated the sweet notes of the same
amiable bird. If one climbed a tree, all the rest went up at
the same time. If one jumped down from it, all the rest
did the same.

Now, there was a mischievous fairy in that neighbour-

266 THE TALES OF THE SIXTY MANDARINS.

hood, who had long watched with intense interest the
proceedings of the five friends, Ya, Ka, Ma, Na, Sa, and
said to herself, " Ah ! these are queer little men that stick to
one another like this ! But let me see how long they will
live in such harmony."

So one day she appeared on the chin of one, in the form
of down.

Instantly he went to a barber for a shave, and all the
rest went with him, and subjected themselves to the same
process, though there was as much down on their chins as on
a piece of polished marble.

The next day, while they were going to sing a familiar
song in chorus, the fairy effaced it from the memories of
Ka, Ma, Na, Sa ; Ya recited the first line, and said he
had also forgotten it.

The day after, the mischievous fairy smeared on the
head of Ya the juice of some mysterious plant, and instantly
he raved like a madman, and snatched a knife to cut his
own throat, and Ka, Ma, Na, Sa snatched a knife each, of
equal width, length, and sharpness, and raving by the
side of their comrade in the same style, gave earnest in-
dications of the same suicidal propensities.

When she saw this, the fairy was in despair. She said to
herself, "Well, these princes are indeed proof against all
my arts. Almost all the arrows in my quiver have been
shot but one. Let me see if they can resist in unison that
one also."

So the next day, when the princes went out into the
country for a ride, she presented herself to their view in all
the charms proverbially ascribed to her race, on a sunny
bank, decked with eglantines, as though she was listening
with rapt attention to the murmurs of a rill that flowed
from a gently-sloping hill.

Ya, Ka, Ma, Na, Sa called out to her with one voice

THE FIVE PRINCES THAT LOVED A FAIRY. 267

" Good fairy, turn this side, and be for aye our happy
bride ! " and said to themselves, " Ah ! she is indeed the
nicest-looking that we have yet seen; so she is no
doubt Dilemma, of whom the good logician spoke to us
before."

The fairy exclaimed, " I see five princes before me
ride ; how can they have a single bride ? "

The princes replied, " No, good Dilemma ; though five,
we love you all the same ; we are but one, though five in
name."

The fairy appeared to be satisfied, and solicited to
be taken behind some one on the saddle, that she might
ride home and be their bride.

Up to this point everything went on very well with the
five friends. But here the question arose on whose saddle
she was to sit.

Ya said, he would have her by his side. Ka said,
he would take her on his own saddle. Ma said, the fairy
was very delicate, and that he alone could take such care as
would ensure her safety and comfort on horseback. Na
and Sa each put forth some incontrovertible argument
of his own to have the fairy by his side.

While they were thus engaged in discussing the point —
this, by the way, being the very first instance in their lives
when they so discussed a point — Ya, with the celerity of
lightning, put the good fairy Dilemma on the saddle behind
him, and rode off.

Ka exclaimed, that he was a freebooter !

Ma said, he was a marauder !

Na said, he was a wretch !

Sa said, he was an incorrigible villain !

So the four princes pursued him, and cut off his pigtail.

Just then the mischievous fairy Dilemma, by some
magic of h°r own, appeared on the saddle behind Ka, and

268 THE TALES OF THE SIXTY MANDARINS.

he rode off with her, fancying for one moment that he was,
after all, the victor.

The rest ran after him, shouting the same names as had
been applied to Ya, and soon overtaking him, cut off his
pigtail.

Then they saw her behind Ma, and inflicted the same
summary punishment on him.

Then Na found her by his side, and sacrificed his pigtail
to the fury of his comrades, till, after all, Sa successfully

"SA . . . RODE OFF WITH THE FAIRY."

rode off with the Fairy Dilemma, and shut himself with her
in his palace.

The four princes, Ya, Ka, Ma, Na, are still knocking at
his door, calling him all kinds of names, and challenging
him to come out and close in deadly fight with any one, or
all four of them, if he has a spark of gallantry in his heart.
But people say that the only reply is an occasional chuckle,
which the four princes hear when they put their ears to
the key-hole, after repeating their defiant shouts and threats
from time to time.

Further, it must be recorded that Sa, at times, puts his
head out of his chamber window with a long pipe in his

THE STORY OF THE SULTAN OF TARTAR Y. 269

mouth, and the Fairy Dilemma fondly leaning on his arm,
and waves his hand at the four princes, Ya, Ka, Ma, Na, as
if he meant to say, " There is no good in your tarrying here
—be gone ! "

Thereupon, the four princes jump and somersault in the
air, endeavouring to get at him, when he and the fairy draw
their heads in with perfect composure, and • the same
chuckle is heard again, while a voice in the air observes : —
" When the fairies come in their way, friends have indeed a
trying day ! "

The Prince remarked, " It is indeed foolish of the four
princes to linger at the door of Sa's palace when he has
made the Fairy Dilemma his wife, and has been living with
her for a long time already. Surely they do not mean to
say that they can get her back to themselves ! "

Here another Mandarin stood up, and said, " Sire, the
four princes may get the fairy, perhaps, about the same time
that the descendants of the architects who built for the
Sultan of Tartary his capital city will get the philosopher's
stone which hangs in a golden casket on a silver pole in a
charming little island in the midst of a glassy lake by the
great city."

The Prince requested the Mandarin to relate the story,
and he proceeded with it as follows : —

0f ilje Sultan 0f ®artarg tolja Ijair
in Ijis Durban.

There was a Sultan of Tartary who wished to build a
great city for his capital. He said to himself, " We have
bricks, we have stone, we have wood, we have men. All

270 THE TALES OF THE SIXTY MANDARINS.

that is required is labour. Well, labour means wages to the
workmen. There is no money in the exchequer to pay the
men ; yet the work must be done."

So he assembled his subjects, and said, "We want a
hundred thousand efficient men to build the capital — will
you help us ? "

They said, " How will you pay for our work, O Sultan?"

The Sultan said, " There is no money in the exchequer,
as you all know. When the capital shall have been built,
each of you will have a hundred acres of land, a herd of
fat cattle, as well as a house for himself in the city."

They said, " We will not leave our homes and families
for such a precarious reward. If your Majesty should
promise something more substantial, we will help you."

The Sultan mused within himself as follows : — " A house
to live in, a herd of fat cattle, and a hundred acres of land
are no inducement to work to these wanderers in the
desert ! So, when their reason would not respond to our
call, we must appeal to their imagination."

The next day his Majesty assembled his subjects again,
and said, " Well, we simply wished to test the extent of your
ambition ; for it was a high ambition that prompted us to
build a great city for ourselves, while till now we were
content to live in tents in the desert. It was indeed a
pleasure to know that our subjects were equally ambitious,
and demanded something more substantial. We have to
make a revelation this day."

Here his Majesty paused for one moment, and reading
in the faces of his subjects that their curiosity was roused
to the highest pitch by this preface, proceeded with his
speech as follows : — " We have got the philosopher's stone,
of whose wonderful virtues you have all heard. We keep it
concealed this moment in the folds of our turban. So soon
as the city shall be finished, we will give each as much

THE STORY OF THE SULTAN OF TAR TAR Y 271

gold as he can weigh in the largest pair of scales of his
own making."

The subjects replied, " O Sultan ! we shall have to work
very hard at it. We will do our best to make the city as
extensive, as beautiful, and as magnificent as it could
possibly be. But this one condition must be strictly borne
in mind by your Majesty — that to every one of us be given
exactly the same quantity of gold."

The Sultan said, " Till now, you have had no occasion
to impugn the justice of our motives and actions. In this
instance also you may depend upon our dealing out the
gold with the strictest impartiality — ay, without an atom of
difference."

So the people set to work at the building of the city.

In the midst of an extensive oasis the Sultan marked
out a plot in the form of a perfect circle, which he cut into
two halves. One semicircle was converted into a deep lake,
with an island in the middle. When it was full, the building
of the city, over the other semicircle, began. The diameter
of the circle between the site of the city and the lake was
the great royal street.

In it, the Sultan's palaces and offices rose in one magni-
ficent row, commanding a view of the lake. Behind were
the innumerable squares and crescents, places and streets,
roads and lanes. His Majesty superintended the work in
person, encouraging the men in every possible way. At
times his Majesty would pretend to have felt something
going wrong in his turban, and fall to adjusting it with great
caution.

When the men asked what it was, his Majesty would
reply, " It is all the doing of that philosopher's stone that we
have got in our turban. It wishes to get out as soon as
possible. Of course, we have to keep it there, yet a while,
with the plea that the work is not yet over — the only plea to

272 THE TALES OF THE SIXTY MANDARINS.

which it would listen — and that so soon as it is finished it
will be asked to do its duty."

Here the men would pause for one moment in the
midst of their work, and ask what its duty was.

The Sultan would reply, "As we have already informed
you, it was acquired by a great philosopher, who lived a
thousand years in the Thian Shan Mountains, for the
special purpose of aiding Sultans who wish to build great
cities. Many a city was built before by its aid. Every one
of those cities was built in a hundred days, and on the next
day after completion the men were paid. Now, you have
already spent a hundred days in laying the foundations of the
city, and the superstructure may take another hundred days, if
not more. Hence the haste which the stone in our turban
makes."

This was a hint to the men that they were slow in doing
their work. It was also an inducement to work harder. So
they worked very hard, in sanguine expectation of getting
the promised gold.

When the city was finished, the Sultan, with all his
family and court, entered it, and took up his residence in the
royal street, where a palace was assigned to each minister
and dignitary of the realm.

Then the Sultan addressed the one hundred thousand
workmen as follows : — " In addition to the gold which we
are to give you, we wish each of you to accept a house, a
herd of fat cattle, and a hundred acres of land, as originally
stipulated. Again, as it has been decided that you should
all have exactly the same quantity of gold, without an iota
of difference, and as we have already promised to give each
as much gold as he could weigh in the largest pair of scales
of his own making, we shall be very happy to see you with
the scales as soon as practicable."

Here his Majesty perceived that the workmen received

THE STORY OF THE SULTAN OF TARTAR v. 273

this part of his speech with great gratification. So he
continued: "The city being completed, the stone in the
folds in our turban has grown more troublesome than even
So we propose confining its turbulent energies in a casket
of gold, and hanging it up on the top of a silver pole, to be
planted in the middle of the island in the lake — of course,
awaiting eagerly your arrival with the pairs of scales, which
we earnestly hope you will lose no time in completing."

"THE CASKET WAS IN . . A CONSPICUOUS POSITION.

Each of the men accepted the house, the herd of fat
cattle, and the hundred acres of land, which kept him and
his family in perfect comfort, and went to make his pair of
scales at leisure. The Sultan hung up the golden casket,
which, he said, contained the philosopher's stone, on the
top of a lofty silver pole planted on the island in the middle
of the lake.

The casket was in such a conspicuous position as to be
visible from the door of every house in the city. So almost
every minute of the day each of the one hundred thousand

274 THE TALES OF THE SIXTY MANDARINS.

architects came out of his house, and snatched a look at it.
Now, every time he looked at it he felt his cupidity increase
a hundred-fold. So after making the largest pair of scales
for the time being, he would again look at the golden
casket on the lofty silver pole on the island in the midst of
the glassy semicircular lake, and demolish the unlucky
instrument, exclaiming, " Ah ! this pair of scales is ridicu-
lously small in comparison with the quantity it may have to
weigh. So I ought to make it larger ! "

In this manner, after working at it for a long time, the
men put all their scales together to see that they were
exactly of equal dimension. But as each was constructed
in proportion to the greed and capacity of its owner, there
was great diversity, if not disparity, among the instruments.
So the men fell to adjusting and comparing their scales
again and again.

The Sultan, finding the men still unready, issued a
general edict that when they should be no more, the gold
should be given to their posterity whenever they should
present themselves with their scales in perfect order.

In course of time the workmen, one and all, died with-
out adjusting their scales But their posterity, being eager
to obtain the prize which their fathers missed, are still
actively striving to adjust their scales, while the philosopher's
stone, which the great Sultan said he had locked up in the
casket, still hangs from the top of the silver pole planted on
the charmii g little island in the midst of the glassy semi-
circular lake.

Again, the progeny of the one hundred thousand work-
men have in course of time multiplied enormously. Each
among them, at the time of bequeathing his property
to his children, adds a clause to his will in these terms : —
" My children shall each have an equal share of all this pro-
perty, as also of the gold from the casket of the Sultan —

THE STORY OF THE SULTAN OF TARTAR Y. 275

peace be to his generous soul, and blessed be his glorious
memory for aye ! — should it fall to their share in their genera-
tion."

In this manner a great amount of imaginary wealth is
being transferred from father to son throughout that great
country over which that magnanimous Sultan ruled. When

"HE GENERALLY POINTS TO THE CASKET."

a young man has spent lavishly all the tangible property
that he inherited from his father, he is yet proud, in that
country, of possessing what he and a great many like him
persistently denominate " Casket wealth."

Should unruly creditors overslip the bounds of forbear-
ance and due lime for the debts he owed them, he generally
s 2

276 THE TALES OF THE SIXTY MANDARINS.

points to the casket, saying, " Mind, I have all my wealth
in it. I have very nearly finished the pair .of scales, along
with others concerned. When I shall have got my share of
the gold, I shall be able to pay you, and a thousand snarling
creditors like you, a thousand times over ! "

The Prince remarked : " Tt is indeed a pleasure to note
the intense gratitude with which the posterity of the one
hundred thousand architects remembered the great Sultan.
As grateful men are sure to thrive, and to be honoured
all the world over, we may rest assured that the descend-
ants of the subjects of the great Sultan are to this day
prosperous and happy."

Here another Mandarin got up, and said, "Sire, "the
Tartars of the country over which the great Sultan ruled in
course of time embraced the religion of Islam. Yet they
cherish the memory of the monarch with such reverence
and gratitude, that it has become quite an ordinary thing in
that country to speak in terms of unbounded praise of that
exalted virtue of our race.

"They have a proverb among them which says — The
grateful man has starved the devils ! — and which they
illustrate with a story called The Banquet of the Fiends "

The Prince requested the Mandarin to tell the story,
and he proceeded with it as follows : —

Hattqxtrf flf % Jfwtbs.

Iblis, the Sultan of All-Fiend-Land, said to his courtiers,
" To-morrow is the anniversary of our revolt against Allah
and his Angels ; how shall we celebrate it ?"

They said with one voice, " Sire, for a long time we
have been eager to hold a banquet at which the best among

THE BANQUET OF THE FIENDS. 277

mankind might be served roasted. If it should please
your Majesty, we shall have such a banquet to-morrow."

"Agreed," said Sultan Iblis.

Instantly a number of fiends ascended to this world from
All-Fiend-Land, and scouring over every country in it,
carried off the best men in each. Thus there was lamen-
tation all the world over. Thereupon, the guardian angels
of the men followed them to the confines of All-Fiend-Land,
and with loud voices complained to Iblis.

Iblis said, " Well, there is no use in your complaining
now. To-morrow, as we sit down to dinner, remind us
of the afifair. Then, if there should be among the men one
who has much of a quality that we do not possess, we
will set him and all his brethren free."

The guardian angels consented to this, and retired.

The next morning there was great rejoicing in All-Fiend-
Land. The imams and improvisatores among the subjects
of Sultan Iblis went about celebrating his victories. His
Majesty rose from bed in the midst of loud music, and
after bathing in a great lake of flame, dressed, and sat
down in his divan with a turban upon which shone diamonds,
the least of which was bigger than a roc's egg.

His Majesty smoked a pipe, the bowl of which was
a great well communicating with the lake of flame, and the
tube of which, at the narrowest part, was so wide that a
man standing on a lofty elephant with uplifted hand could
drive through it without touching the concave above him.

The courtiers paid their homage to his Majesty one
after another, calling him their great Sultan Iblis, who had
warred in times of yore against heaven, and who owned the
lake of flame into which more than half the world went.

Sultan Iblis said, " Now let the banquet be got ready."

Instantly great dishes and salvers were laid on a carpet,
which was greater in extent than the greatest desert of

278 THE TALES OF THE SIXTY MANDARINS.

earth, and the men who were to be eaten at the feast were
led near the well which formed the bowl of the Sultan's
pipe, that they might be roasted.

Just then Sultan Iblis heard the sound of a great many
trumpets. There was a tradition in All-Fiend-Land that
the saints in Paradise were planning an attack on Sultan
Iblis and his numerous subjects, to blot out their country
altogether from the map of the universe, and that this
scheme was out of mercy to the human race, to which the
saints had originally belonged.

Sultan Iblis thought that the holy confederacy might
have chosen that particular day to break upon the fiends
unawares.

So he exclaimed, " Hollo ! what is that ? "

"Sire," said the courtiers of his Majesty, " they are the
guardian angels of these men who are to be cooked."

" Well, I will keep my promise to them ! " said Iblis,
and pointing to one of the men, asked, " Who is this ? "

" Sire, this is the kind man," said the fiend who cooked.

Iblis said, " As to kindness, we have plenty of it among
us, so he goes to the spit."

" Now, who is this ? " said Iblis, pointing to another.

" Sire, this is the munificent man," said the fiend.

" Well," said Sultan Iblis, " what of that ? There is no
end of the gold and gems we give men for adherence to our
cause. So he goes to the spit."

" Now, who is this ? " said Iblis, pointing to another man.

" Sire, this is the heroic man," said the fiend.

Iblis said, " Ah ! in point of heroism very few can equal
us and our subjects. The prodigies of our valour in our
battles against Allah and his angels, and the noble self-
sacrifice with which our followers rescued one another, are
yet known in the seven heavens. So the heroic man also
goes to the spit."

THE BANQUET OF THE FIENDS. 279

In this manner a great many men were chosen for the
spit, and there was but one man yet remaining.

The men trembled from head to foot, for some ot
them had concluded that all hope was lost, while others
fancied that between them and utter perdition there was yet
but a hair-breadth in the shape of that one man.

The guardian angels also were equally concerned.
Sultan Iblis asked who that one remaining man was.

The fiend replied, " Sire, this is the grateful man."

Instantly the face of Iblis grew pale. He exclaimed,
" Alas ! but for this one man, our feast should have
been great ! But he rescues all, and bids us starve
to-day ! "

" How, sire ? " said the astonished courtiers.

" Why, my good courtiers," said he, " do you not know
that gratitude is the only virtue that we do not possess ? If
we had it, we should not have rebelled against Allah, who
showered his blessings upon every one of us."

At this, the courtiers of Sultan Iblis hung down their
heads. The fiend that held the men released them all,
and the guardian angels led them out of All-Fiend-Land,
exclaiming in a chorus of celestial symphony — "The
Grateful Man has starved the Fiends ! "

Thus sixty Mandarins had told their tales. The Prince
stood up, and the sixty Mandarins stood in a circle round
him. The Prince addressed them as follows : —

" I am greatly indebted to you for the very kind manner
in which you have amused me by leading from one
story to another. If I remember right, we began with a
curse on Opium, and ended with a blessing on that
exalted virtue of mankind — Gratitude. I am grateful. But
now go ; I am reminded by the hunger of Iblis that I have
forgotten my dinner."

2 So THE TALES OF THE SIXTY MANDARINS.

The Mandarins with one voice, as of many trees
touched by the breath of heaven, replied as follows : —

"Sire, if we have to any extent entertained you with
our stories, the capacity to do so was evoked by youi
illustrious presence, which has ever enlarged our hearts
with inspiration. To us your smile is an abundant feast
It has gladdened us, and we depart with joy."

TAlL-1'lfc.CE.

PRINTED BY CASSELL & CO., LIMITED, LA BELLE SAUVAGE, LONDON, E.G.

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